A Shocking Discovery
by Hookemhorns12
Summary: A human space patrol stumbles upon the Lylat System. After a confrontation with Star Fox, only one survives. This is the story of a man and his escape to Earth, all the while unraveling a conspiracy bigger than anyone could imagine. HumanXKatt pairing.
1. Chapter 1

**AN:**** Hello, my name is Hookemhorns12. If you do by some small chance remember me, I'm that one guy who had that mediocre first story about the human secret agent and all that other #%$ that I deleted. I'm going to give it to you straight. When I first wrote that story, I didn't actually own a Star Fox game. I just came up with that story off the top of my head from reading other stories. So, after** **writing about other topics that I actually know about and playing through a few SF games, I've decided to give this topic another shot. Wish me luck, and tell me how I did.**

[SOMEWHERE IN SPACE]

[UNAF LONG DISTANCE PATROL ALPHA- CALLSIGN "LEATHERHEAD"]

[October 30, 2683- MISSION CLOCK: 14:26]

[DIARY ENTRY #12- Cpt. Blake O'Brien]

That's what he typed into the computer onboard his ship. Being in a United Nations Air Force LDP was not easy work. When they say long distance, they mean long distance- as in past the desert planet Ra (named after the ancient Egyptian sun god). A single patrol takes about two weeks to go from Earth, to the edge of the colonies, then back. As soon as they get back, Bravo takes off into the black to take their place, followed by Charlie. All in all, they would have about four weeks of leave before being called back to the cramped quarters of their single seat F/A- 33 "Ultra Hornet".

Let's have a little briefing about the F/A-33. In the year 2367, the world's first manned space craft made it to Pluto and back, bringing many samples. Soon after, another space race not unlike the one way back in the 1960s occurred. Every country began to develop its own ships capable of traveling far out into space for explorative purposes. In 2394, Lockheed Martin made a joint venture with Boeing in order to create a ship for "Military purposes". Thus, after many years of research and experimentation, the F-25 was born. It looked much like the F-22 "Raptor" from the olden times, only it was capable of maneuvering in a vacuum for extended periods of time. The United States was the first to buy an order of 200 in order to protect cargo ships going to and fro from the colonies from the new threat of pirates. But, with every model, there's a problem. The user of the F-25 found that wings shook profusely during re-entry. So the team went back to the drawing board and began to study old blue prints of the Su- 47 from 2000. Sukhoi had long since gone out of business, so there was no legal dispute when they adopted the forward swept wing concept in order to reduce drag. Then came forth the F-25B, to put it simply, it looked like an F-22 with forward swept wings, but without the smaller wings located on each side of the cockpit. Then in 2450, the U.S. Navy perfected the energy cannon. Out of that came the F-25C. No one really saw the need to create more aircraft after they fitted one with energy cannons, which were even more powerful than a tank, so the F-25C stuck. Everybody wanted one, everybody needed one. If you had F-25Cs, you were the bad boy of the skies. A single shot from the three cannons mounted on the fuselage could penetrate five sheets of four inch Titanium-A armor plating. All was quiet for many years until another problem arose. The heat generated by such a powerful weapon had disastrous side effects. The sides of the fuselage would melt from such extreme temperature, causing a hole to be torn wide open on the craft and exposing the pilot to all of the gruesome elements of the vacuum. So, then came the F/A-33 with a scientific marvel of the era, energy shields. The F/A-33 that Blake flew carried two AIM-11A air to air missiles, two unguided all- purpose rocket pods with 8 rocket capacities, and four energy cannons- two on the nose, and one on the end of each wing.

Back to the story, Blake was making his usual diary entry with any observations that he had for later review.

"Cpt. Blake O'Brien. Fourteen hours, twenty six seconds since refuel with tanker _Hermosa_. So far no activity." He said in his heavy, smooth Scottish accent. His squad mates often poked fun at him for sounding like Cpt. McMillan from the COD remakes. "Johnny says his engine has been making a strange whining sound for the past four hours, we're going to have mechanics check it out when we reach the Abel system." Blake saved the file and stored it on the ship's data banks. I leaned back in his seat and let his head rest in his hands. There was no need to hold the wheel as the auto pilot was working perfectly, and they were right on course. Just then he heard a small beep and the holographic communicator on the control panel activated and gave him a view of a pilot's helmet with the visor pulled down and the oxygen mask hanging off one side. He couldn't see the man's eyes, but he could see a smirk on the man's face. He sighed irritably.

"Before you ask Taylor, no. How many times am I going to have to answer that question?"

"But sir," Cpl. Taylor said back. Being in the United Nations Air Force meant that you worked with people from all around the globe. Taylor was an American man in his early twenties from Los Angeles, California. "It wouldn't hurt to take a peak! Every time we've passed these coordinates I've picked up strange frequencies over the comms! Every time we pass the gas giant, I pick up little snippets over the channels. We're beyond Ra, so there's no possible way that it's coming from a nearby planet!"

"You're forgetting Taylor that this part of space is crawling with pirates and smugglers. It could be them trying to lay a trap. And trust me, getting my arse blown off by a homing mine is not on my bucket list! Now I will not hear another word about it or so help me God I will have you transferred to sector nine!" Blake said with finality. He'd said that a lot, but Taylor knew he wouldn't. Out of the other eight men (and one woman) that made up Alpha squadron, he liked Taylor the most. Now, he didn't choose favorites, but if he had to choose someone to back him up, Taylor would be it. That why he made him second in command, after all.

"Pleeeaaaase?" Taylor whined like a five year old in the toy store. Blake face palmed his visor and exhaled.

"Fine, but we go no farther than a thousand miles, understood?"

"Sir, yes sir!" Taylor exclaimed.

"Listen up guys; we're taking a little detour. Taylor thinks he's picked up something." Blake said over the comms.

"Roger." Came the nine replies. Blake, being the leader of the formation, took control of his ship and turned to the right when they came to the large green gas giant. It was an odd gas giant. It stood alone in space, orbiting no known sun. Little did they know that it wasn't a gas giant, and that it was called Venom by the inhabitants of the system it was a part of…

**So what do you think? I know it was kinda short but I just wanted this chapter as a little sample. Oh yeah, I also have a link to a picture of the F/A-33 on my profile if I confused you with the description of it. Remember to read, review, and stay tuned for the next chapter.**


	2. First contact Last Stand

Blake eyed the GPS intently. So far they were 856 miles off course. It would only be a minute before they had to turn back.

"What did I tell you, Taylor? There's nothing out here. It might just be the cosmic background radiation screwing with our instruments." He said into the comm.

"Not so fast, Captain. We are only 858 miles off course. We still have a little time before we turn back." Said a cool, feminine French voice through the speaker. That voice belonged to the only woman in the squad, Annette. She hailed from Montreal.

"Bah, sticking up for your boyfriend, yeah?" Black shot back. His remark was followed by thunderous laughter from the other members of the squad. It wasn't a secret that the two had a thing for each other. Well, they had even more than that! Holding hands when they walk together, the constant complimenting of each other, not to mention Taylor traveling to her apartment in Paris for a "French Lesson". Blake shook his head. Being romantically involved while being a pilot was dangerous business. Pirates were ruthless and would kill you in an instant. Each mission could be your last. Especially if you're on Alpha patrol.

The reason for this is that Alpha has the highest kill count of any other patrol out there. They've captured and boarded more ships than they could count. Every time a pirate heard their name they could either go red with hate, or tremble with fear. What made them famous was their capture of the _Raven's Claw_- a massive ship smuggling illegal weapons, drugs, and immigrants to the colonies farther from Earth. The pencil pushers back on earth's jaws hit the floor when they saw the small group of ten ships escorting the two mile long class D cargo ship into port.

"See there? Nothing!" Blake said when they reached the 1000 mile limit. He was just about to order his squad to turn back when another voice came over the comm. This one was Russian

"Sir, I think I found something. I'll be damned if it's another planet!"

"What the bloody hell are you talking about Dmitri?"

"Look ahead on the scopes!" Blake did as he was told and pressed a button on the control panel. A smaller screen appeared over his targeting computer and he was able to see over 10,000 miles in front of him. Just like Dmitri said! It was a solid white planet that looked to be about the same size as Mercury back home, only it was solid white and looked like it was covered in snow. They were unknowingly staring at Fichina.

"Bloody hell, you were right!"

"Told you we'd find something!"

"Shut up Taylor."

"We should go take a little look see, shouldn't we? After all, imagine what could happen if we discovered a new system!" Taylor said enthusiastically.

"Ladies and gentlemen, fall into formation. We're going to do a little exploration." Blake said. The other nine ships formed a V formation with him at the front. Blake increased the throttle in his ship and went from cruising to full after burn. The rest of the squad followed suit. This was going to be fun.

(Fichina radar outpost #87)

"Sir, unknown crafts have just passed coming from the direction of Venom." A cardinal in a military uniform called to his superior. The CO almost jogged over to the console.

"What've we got here?" The bear asked quietly as he leaned over the chair to get a better view of the ships. They were of no design that he knew of. They looked sleek and angular, with wings that faced forward, not backwards! They had a single thruster on the back and four cannons mounted in various locations. The ships sported scary looking missiles beneath the wings and were racing towards mid system faster than the normal speed. As if they were trying to slip by without anyone noticing!

"SOMEONE GET CORNERIA ON THE HORN! TELL THEM TO LOOK OUT FOR TEN UNKNOWN POSSIBLE HOSTILES HEADING IN THEIR DIRECTION!"

"Aye sir!"

(Back in space)

"Incredible." Dmitri muttered as they passed what they didn't know was Titania. "A planet made from solid silver!"

"Don't be stupid, there's no way that that could be just one big slab of metal!" Annette said. But if you could see past her visor you would have seen a look of awe and greed.

"How many ships you think it'd take to haul that giant motherfucker back home?" Johnny, a Sargent from Texas with a deep country accent asked.

"I have no clue, but first round's on me if we did." Eric, a Swede, replied.

"Blake, there's an asteroid field ahead!" Miguel cried in his thick Spanish accent. Blake looked ahead and sure enough, there was a thick wall of rock that seemed to say: try to get past me, if you dare!

"Everybody slow down and prepare for evasive maneuvers!" Blake ordered. They decreased the speed and headed straight for the center of the mass. Everyone's hearts were pounding in their chests. Asteroid fields were dangerous and hard to navigate through. One could easily meet his early demise if he didn't keep his hands on the stick and his eyes on the sky, or in this case, space. It happened in slow motion as the team entered the maze. They all swerved to avoid a massive one that was directly in front of them. Blake had to do a barrel roll to avoid another that would have taken off his right wing.

"YEEEHAAW!" Johnny shouted and flew his ship through a tiny hole in one and appeared unscathed on the other side.

"You're getting reckless Johnny." Blake warned sternly. The last thing he wanted was to have to knock on a parent's door and tell them that their child was dead. It happened before to him, only with his dad.

"LOOK OUT CAPTAIN!" Miguel shouted into the comm. Blake was brought back to reality and opened fire with his energy cannons, blowing apart an asteroid that was only half a mile away from him.

"Did you space out there for a second McMillan?" Johnny asked. Blake shook off the comment and continued flying, this time paying more attention to the world around them. Two minutes later, they emerged on the other side. They were not prepared for what they found.

"Jesus Christ!"

"Sacrebleu!"

"¡Hijo de puta!"

"Brilliant!"

"Sweet baby Jesus!"

"Mat' ublyudok!" Dmitri yelled last. The rest of the squad remained silent. In front of them was a massive solar system revolving around a single star. Not 10,000 miles from them was a very pleasant looking planet with what looked like vegetation as well as oceans. The humans had found Corneria.

"Finally, a planet that looks habitable!" Taylor said.

"Let's go take a look down there, then take what we found back home. Maybe we could earn ourselves a little raise." Blake said. "Everyone prepare for an atmospheric entry when we reach the planet!" he commanded. All around him his fellow pilots were strapping on their oxygen masks over their faces. He never said it out loud, but he always thought that it looked badass when you wore your oxygen mask. The way the mask covered any part of you face that the visor couldn't made you look like you were going to fuck some shit up, which you most likely were. It made you look like you had an eternal scowl on your face from the way the visor sloped. Once again, badass.

(Down below, outskirts of Corneria city.)

Fox McCloud laid back under the shade of the trees in his backyard. Lying in the hammock with him was Krystal. Slippy and Katt were relaxing in the pool while Falco cooked burgers. Could Saturday get any better? For once it seemed that no one was trying to destroy or take over the planet, not to mention he had his beautiful girlfriend to spend it with. Then, as if to ruin his bliss, his cell phone began to ring. He reached over Krystal and grabbed the little device off of the table and pressed the answer button. There was Peppy, with a distraught look on his face. Peppy had decided to stay onboard the _Great Fox_ while the rest of the team went off to stay at Fox's house. Lucy would not be coming back from Katina for another two weeks, so he saw no need to rent a hotel room.

"Fox, we need the team here pronto! A group of ten unidentified, heavily armed ships have entered the atmosphere! We need you in your Arwings and chasing them down, NOW!" Peppy ordered. Fox groaned.

"Fine, we'll be there in a few."

"Thank you Fox. Peppy out!" and the line went dead. There was no real rush to get to the ships, unless of course these ships attacked. Right? Suddenly, he heard a low rumbling in the distance. Everyone else must've heard it too, because they were searching the sky for the source of the noise. The noise steadily grew louder by the second.

"LOOK!" Slippy shouted and pointed a finger off into the distance. Fox squinted into the sun and saw ten small dots coming this way. The rumbling grew even louder. The dots got closer and closer by the second until the rumbling became an earsplitting roar that made everybody shut their ears. The ships, by now that's what Fox knew what they were, screamed overhead so fast that they were gone in a blink of an eye. As they flew past the ground beneath them shook and the trees bent it the direction that they were traveling from the wind they generated. As soon as it started, it stopped and the ships were off in the distance, leaving many stunned onlookers in awe of their mighty show of power. That's when everybody leapt into action. Katt hopped out of the pool and put on her flight suit over her two piece bikini. Krystal ran inside to grab hers. Fox was already wearing his usual attire. Falco ditched the "Kiss the Cook" apron and he was good to go. Slippy ran over to grab his clothes that he had left on a table. Within minutes they were in a military transport, making a beeline for the hangar where the Arwings were located.

(In the air)

"Bloody hell mate, this planet's inhabited!" Blake said in astonishment.

"B-but, this system shows up on no known UN maps! How could we miss it?" Eric asked in awe stricken voice.

"Men, I believe we've stumbled upon the first known alien civilization!"

"Awesome, I've always wanted to meet E.T.!" Johnny exclaimed.

"Listen, we will NOT attack unless attacked first, keep all interaction peaceful unless I give the order." Blake ordered as they buzzed over a large city surrounded by water on all sides.

"Roger that!" everyone responded. Then he heard his communicator beep. Blake assumed it was one of his squad mates so he activated the link. But he nearly fainted when he saw who was on the other end. WHAT was a better term. It was a blood hound in an old timey looking general's uniform!

(Corneria high command)

General Pepper straightened his hat before pressing the call button on his holographic communicator. Somehow they had managed to tune to the same radio frequency that the strange ships were using. Pepper was not prepared for what met him. He was face to face with a strange creature that was completely concealed by a pilot's helmet and oxygen mask. He couldn't see its eyes due to the visor, just his own astonished face starring back at him. the way the visor went over the bridge of its nose made it look like it was frowning at any who looked upon it, while the oxygen mask prevented him from knowing if it was truly smiling or not, or what it's mouth looked like! Little did he know that the creature in front of him was just as astonished.

"Unidentified aircraft, state your business on Corneria." He demanded in the most confident voice he could muster.

"Bloody hell, did you just speak English?" the creature asked in a strange accent. Pepper nodded. "Right, I am Cpt. Blake O'Brien of UNAF long distance patrol Alpha. We don't want any trouble, we just stumbled upon your system during our patrol. This system was not charted on any known maps, so we came to investigate." Pepper was confused. What was the UNAF? How many of these creatures were there? Where were they located? All of these questions raced through the old hound's mind at the same time. Finally, the general came to his senses and asked the first question that came to mind.

"What system do you come from?" he asked.

"I, personally, come from our home planet, Earth. It's located in the home system on the other side of the galactic center from this location. But we humans have populated many more planets and other systems all across the galaxy."

"And what is this UNAF?"

"It is the Air Force branch of the United Nations Military."

"United Nations?"

"Bah, there's too much to explain and I have to keep my eyes on the sky." It said in a slightly irritated voice.

"Perhaps you could land and come to the high command?"

"Of course, where's your runway?"

"Runway?"

"You know, airstrip, tarmac?" what was this strange creature babbling about? Pepper store at the man with a deeply confused expression. All he had ever known were ships that could land and take off vertically. The idea of a ship having to slow itself down by rolling along the ground on wheels was alien to him. Well, it was alien altogether!

"I'm sorry, but we don't have this 'runway' of which you speak."

"Then I guess we can't land- AH SHIT!" the Blake yelled and the hologram went fuzzy. The camera shook a little then returned to focus.

"What happened?" Pepper asked. Right as he asked, his question was answered and Fox's head appeared on the communicator.

"Don't worry General, we'll take care of them!" He assured triumphantly. Pepper was about to tell Fox off for attacking without an order, but too late.

"Oh, you shouldn't have done that fox boy! You're going to be my new coat!" Blake shouted and the hologram of Fox shook.

"He fired on us!" Fox shouted.

"You had it coming to you!" Blake snapped back. Both holograms glared at each other.

"Alpha squadron/ Star Fox, break formation and attack hostiles at will!" both pilots shouted at the same time. Pepper watched in horror from his office window as all of the dots formed up and began to fly towards each other at break neck speed. He was faced with a hard choice. Keep peaceful, or lose his best mercenary squad. He made his choice almost instantly.

"Scramble the fighters! Help Star Fox!"

(In the sky)

**AN:**** for some reason I couldn't stop thinking about the dogfight theme from the Lethal Skies soundtrack when I typed this next part. You might want to open another tab and see what I mean! Okay back to the story!**

Blake stared straight ahead at the center of the formation where he saw that bastard fox take position.

"No one go after the fox, that fucker's mine." He growled into the comms. The other squad drew closer and closer until finally both sides began firing. Blake saw about five AIM-11As streak towards the mass of ships. Blake chuckled darkly. Each one of those missiles could destroy a bunker. Some of the needle like ships swerved out of the way.

"HAHA, NICE SHOT- WHAT'S THIS?" a blue falcon yelled when the missile began to follow his ship, ever so slowly closing the gap. He tried to zig zag his ship through the air, but the missile stayed on course. Right at the last second, the avian pulled an eject lever and rocketed away from his ship just as the missile rammed into it from behind. A massive explosion filled the air, rocking the earth beneath it and completely vaporizing the mass of steel.

"You'll pay for that!" a female British voice shouted. One of the enemy ships began to shower Eric with laser fire. Eric made a wide loop through the air, putting his ship right behind hers.

"Let's do a little fox hunting!" Eric chuckled evilly into the comm. He fired a barrage from his energy cannons at her. The shields flared, absorbing the impact. Suddenly, the ship performed a really fast barrel roll, causing an aura of white light to shine around it. One of the lasers ricochets off and hurled right back at him. It hit square on the nose of the ship. "Damn, my shields are down!"

"Not so tough now are you?" The blue fox laughed as the two began to engage in a heavy dogfight, constantly reversing the roles of hunter and hunted.

"Star Fox, this is Blue Company. We heard you could use some help!" A voice said over the radio. About fifty other ships raced out from behind a building. One of them broke off and went after Jake.

"Shit, I can't shake him!" Jake screamed over the comms. The Cornerian fighter let loose a charged plasma bomb, scoring a direct hit. The comm was filled with nothing but his last terror filled screams as the F/A-33 dropped to the ground like a stone in flames.

"YOU BASARD!" Dmitri shouted and immediately set to work on the enemy. He opened fire, taking off one of the wings and sending the hostile spiraling downwards into the city streets. He then turned back to the cloud of ships and took out another with a burst from the energy cannons. His foe rammed straight into one of the many tall building in the city. Down below people screamed and ran for whatever shelter they could find from the falling debris from the battle raging above.

"One little two little three little teddy bears, four little five little six little teddy bears!" Johnny sang gleefully as he shot down one fighter after another. But there was one problem. More and more fighter began showing up out of nowhere. It would only be a matter of time before they would be overrun.

"Fox, I have to bug out. I've taken too much damage!" Krystal cried. She steered her heavily damaged Arwing back to the hangar for repairs, the battle between her and Eric lost.

"YOU STAY AWAY FROM HER!" Fox yelled in rage and began to mercilessly chase Eric. The human took a steep dive down below the rooftops of Corneria city, but that didn't stop him. They raced through the narrow streets, their wingtips not fifteen feet from each side. Eric banked sharply down another street in an attempt to shake off the enraged vulpine. That's when Fox saw his chance. He fired a plasma bomb at the F/A-33. It nailed the ship directly on the cockpit. There were no screams or anything, the blast simply disintegrated the ship to ashes. Fox grinned to himself and pulled up sharply to rejoin the fight.

"Oh you're going down kitten!" Blake yelled at the pink cat.

"Catch me if you can, slow poke!" Katt shouted back as they raced through the mountains. Blake fired once, narrowly missing her wing tip by mere centimeters. She pulled up sharply and began to spiral. Blake pulled on the stick to chase after her. Katt then pulled the brake, allowing Blake's ship to zoom past her. She managed to score a few hits on him, making the human growl in frustration.

'_Damn, my shields are out!'_ they both thought at the same time. Blake rotated his ship and arced around so he could head back to the city and to his teammates.

"Captain, there's too many of them! We're losing more men by the minute! There are only six of us left!" Annette shouted into the radio.

"Shit. EVERYBODY FALL BACK! GET BACK ON THE PATROL ROUTE AND HAUL ARSE FOR THE ABEL SYSTEM! THERE'S TOO MANY OF THEM!" Blake commanded with haste. He sharply pulled up and began to flee to the darkness of the vacuum. He saw his other team mates do the same.

"We've got them on the run!" he heard on of the Cornerians say through the channels. All around him laser shots were just barely missing his ship. He watched as Miguel's ship took a hit to the engine and stalled. The F/A-33 stalled before dropping straight out of the sky, the engine now useless.

"AAAAAAAAH!" was all one could here from his comm. Blake cut off the comm link to Miguel's ship with a sense of numbness. It was a hard thing to do when you shut off one of your own men's communications, but he needed his team to focus on getting themselves out of here alive. Not the haunting screams of your friend and squad mate's last seconds. With a newfound horror Blake found that there was no way to escape unless someone made a distraction, so he made the hard choice, he would be the distraction.

"Men, I need you to run as fast as these tin cans will take you. Get your arses to the Abel system and bring back an army to blow these fuckers to hell." Blake growled into the comms.

"But sir, what about you?" Taylor asked.

"I'm staying back here to buy you guys time."

"That's suicide! They'll rip you to shreds!"

"I'm fully aware of that."

"Then I'm staying here with you."

"NO!" Blake hadn't meant to snap like that, but he had to get his best friend to understand.

"Why not?"

"Because you have a family and Annette! I have nothing. Just promise me one thing."

"Anything sir."

"When you propose to Annette, treat her like the last fucking woman on earth, understand me?"

"Yes sir, how did you know about that?" Taylor asked. Blake chuckled grimly.

"I found the Kay Jewelers receipt for the diamond engagement ring in your bags on Ra." And with that, Blake pulled the brakes and turned his ship around to face the army hurdling straight towards them.

"COME GET SOME YOU OVER SIZED TEDDY BEARS!" he yelled and pushed the throttle to full. He opened fire on the first ship he saw. He had to perform a barrel roll to dodge another and immediately shot down another. Blake leveled out his ship and began to blast away at the endless hordes of fighters. It was after he took out twenty that the Cornerians got the memo and began to come after him.

"Not today!" Blake said as he dodged a plasma bomb. It streaked past him and struck one of his pursuers. With a single burst of the energy cannons his would be killer was plummeting downwards. A few laser shots made hits on his wings. Blake forced his fighter into a dive and rolled his ship 180 degrees, allowing him to pull up and head back the way he came. He lined up another ship in his sights and brought it down as well.

"Oh fuck." He muttered when he saw every single fighter beginning to chase him. He looked off into the distance towards the mountains and an idea formed in his head. "On second thought, chase me all the way to hell you bastards!" he pushed the speed on his fighter as fast as it would go.

"What's he doing?" Fox asked into the comm.

"I don't know Fox, I say we keep our distance and see." Slippy replied. Somehow in this whole thing he had stayed in the air, despite his reputation for getting shot down first. Katt pulled the Cat's Paw up next to the Arwings. They watched and watched as the human grew closer to the mountains. When he finally got to his destination, he disappeared into the range with the Cornerian fighters hot on his heels. By now his engine was smoking from the hits that they had scored.

"We should follow." Katt said. The three mercenaries took off after the cluster.

"Come on, just a little closer!" Blake urged frantically as he headed deeper into the mountain range. "THERE WE ARE!" he shouted as he spotted a massive cliff ahead. He released the safeties on the rocket pods. He waited 'til he was three hundred feet and closing before releasing them all at the walls of the cliff. The rockets struck just as Blake streaked through the gap between the two walls. He watched in satisfaction through his rear view camera as the walls came crumbling down, effectively stopping the fighters. He let out a sigh of relief and leaned back in his seat. That is, until a chunk of rock crashed into his fighter.

"Shit, the whole damn mountain's coming down!" Blake shouted as he tried to dodge the endless debris from above. He was about to pull up when his ship rocked violently.

"Thought you could get away?" Fox gloated cockily through the communicator.

"I am so fucking sick of you!" Blake shouted angrily and performed a loop. He was now behind the three ships. Two were those weird looking pointy ones and the other was that one cat's ship. Blake checked his stores. He had two AA missiles to use. Perfect opportunity. He released the safeties and watched as the two targeting reticles locked onto the Arwings.

"SAY GOODNIGHT YOU BASTARD!" he yelled and pressed the fire button. The recoil from the missiles felt heavenly! He watched the two smoke trail split up and head to their respective targets. The frog ejected from his ship in a nick of time just as his ship blew to pieces. As for the fox, Blake couldn't tell because he was already performing evasive maneuvers from the cat.

"FOX! SLIPPY! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU, YOU SICK SON OF A BITCH!" The cat yelled at him.

"Bah, keep talking kitten, let's settle this the old fashion way." Blake laughed evilly and brought his fighter around to face hers. They flew straight towards each other, never once taking their fingers off the trigger. Blake got about five shots on her when his ship was struck by something big. Alarms began to go off and he saw fire behind the cockpit. He glances downwards and saw the other two pilots with blasters aimed up at him.

"Don't worry Katt, we got your back! Now finish this asshole!" He heard Fox say. With a large feeling of terror, he watched as the pink ship positioned itself behind him. One more hit would send him to his doom, for he was already struggling to just to keep his bird in the air. In slow motion he saw the lasers exit the barrels and fling towards him.

"Shit." He muttered. The ship shook violently and he felt the feeling of his stomach dropping as his fighter began to lose altitude, fast! He was making a beeline straight for the side of a mountain, leaving a trail of fire and smoke behind him. 500 feet, 350, 200. He tried to pull the eject lever, but realized with sudden terror that it was jammed! The ground raced up to meet him in a blur. He clenched his eyes shut and waited for the bitter end.

_**CRASH!**_

(In the air)

"Way to go Katt, you got him!" Slippy and fox both shouted into the communicator. But Katt was still skeptical. How would they know if this strange masked creature had some special ability that allowed it to survive high speed impact. She glanced at the column of smoke rising from the canopy of the trees. No, she had to find out.

"I'm not so sure." She said and guided her ship towards the crash site.

"Come on Katt! Let's just get back to the city! It couldn't have survived that crash."

"I don't care, I'm going to check anyways."

"Your funeral."

(Ground)

Blake awoke with pain all over his body. In front of him was the console, with sparking, destroyed equipment. It had a hug dent in the center, and if he wasn't mistaken, blood! He weakly reached up and tore the oxygen mask from his face. As soon as he did, he coughed up a ton of blood. He tried to push open the canopy, but the latches wouldn't budge. So he did what he had to do and tried the lever again. To his surprise, the canopy blasted off its hinges and flew away and his seat flew skywards. Unfortunately for him, the chair was made for high altitude escapes, so the parachute didn't open 'til he had already hit the ground hard, again! The impact shot unspeakable pain throughout his whole body. With one hand he reached up and undid his restraint. When he tried to get up however, a white hot pain spike in his leg and he dropped back down to the ground with a yelp. He must've broke his leg in the crash! He also found that moving his left arm hurt too, so he might have only fractured it. But for now he would have to push ahead, for he knew they were going to try to confirm the kill. Since he couldn't stand, he had to crawl around the chair and pull off a pack from the backrest. Inside was a week's supply of MREs, a full canteen of water, a first aid kit, water purifiers, his knife, his sidearm, and a compact submachine gun with four clips of .45 ACP each. With great difficulty he pulled out the side arm and slammed a mag in. He felt a momentary surge of excitement when he felt the slide ram forward into place, signifying that a round was in the chamber. He then pulled out the first aid kit and stuck a morphine injection into his leg. That should keep the pain from distracting him. He just had to remember not to walk on it. Next he tore a strip from his OD green flight suit and used it to bandage a huge gash going across his torso. He slung the bag on his back and began to push himself away from the wreckage using his good leg while resting on his back. When they found him, it was guaranteed that they would suffer a few more casualties before they took him down. And once his squad reached the Abel system, these mutant LOL cats would get stomped off their motherfucking planet.

(With Katt)

Katt immediately pulled out her blaster as she hopped out of her ship not too far away from the crash site. She silently crept forward, using her superior hearing, smell, and eye sight to scan the area around her. She couldn't see or hear anything, but she could smell smoke and blood. There she was, the crash site just beyond the bush that concealed her. She scanned one last time before leaping out with her blaster raised. She immediately realized that no one was there. She walked over to the still burning remains of the strange ship. The canopy was lying some distance away and she saw the ejector seat sitting on the ground with the parachute deployed. She deduced that either the human ejected at the last second, or he used the chair to escape. Hopefully the latter. Katt decided to investigate the ejector seat for clues. Here the smell of blood was strong, and still fresh. Upon closer inspection she saw that there were large spatters of it here and there. The way it glistened off the earth told here that it couldn't have been older than a few minutes at the most. She looked around one last time and saw a trail of it heading in the westerly direction, as if it had dragged itself that way. So from that she deduced that it was obviously seriously injured. If it hadn't just killed almost a hundred good men, she would have felt sorry for it. She began to follow the trail through the thick forest. She walked only about sixty feet when she saw something lying on the ground. It was its helmet. A terrible thought crossed through Katt's mind. What if the creature was a terribly ugly and fearsome one that wore the helmet for its own good? Well, the way things were going, she'd soon find out.

(With Blake)

He grunted one last time as he pushed himself to the top of the hill and against the solid stone of a rock wall rising 200 feet behind him. He took this opportunity to reach into his bag and take a swig from the canteen. He also whipped out a Cajun rice and chicken MRE and wolfed down its contents. Next he grabbed the submachine gun and loaded it with one of the twenty round clips. He went ahead and set the magazines and the pistol in convenient locations. He was at the top of a hill that over looked the surrounding forest land. He had the height advantage on these guys and he needed all the help he could get. He propped his leg out to rest and waited. He was certain that he wouldn't make it out alive in this one, but he was going to take as many of these fuckers with him as he possibly could. Whether it be pistol, machine gun, or even knife.


	3. Captured and alone

**AN:**** Alright, I'm back finally! Sorry for the long update time, but I was on the last few chapters of my other story and I just wanted to get that %&#$ out of the way so I could focus on this. *Cracks knuckles* let's get this show on the road.**

Katt followed the glistening trail of blood through the mountainous forest. With each passing step the putrid stench grew stronger. Finally she came to a point where the trail hooked a left.

_**CLICK-CLACK!**_ - Her ears twitched to the noise. What could it have been? Katt pondered this for a few seconds before the realization hit…

… It was a charging handle being pulled back.

"SHIT!" Katt yelled and dove behind a tree just as a burst of machine gun fire rattled the air around her. In mid-flight she felt a searing pain in her shoulder and she screamed. She flopped to the ground behind the tree and clutched her wounded shoulder. Blood poured freely from the wound. She tore a strip from her flight suit and tied it nice and tight around the hole in her shoulder. When she regained her composure, she ever so slightly poked her head out from cover…

_**BLAM, BLAM, BLAM!**_ another burst from the machine gun was fired at her. She ducked her head back in just in time as the .45 caliber bullets slammed into the timber, tearing off the bark. While she had not been able to return fire, she now knew where he was. The bad thing was, he had the higher ground advantage. But the good thing was, Katt had back up. She reached for her communicator.

"Fox, Slippy, is anyone there?" She asked into the little wrist comm. For a few seconds, no one responded, but then Fox's voice came back over the radio.

"Katt, what's wrong? Did you find that thing?" Fox asked. Katt let out a sigh of relief.

"Yes. He's got me pinned down! I've been hit in the shoulder. I need back up, now!" She whispered, hoping the human wouldn't hear her.

"Stay put Katt, we'll be arriving shortly." Fox responded, then the link went dead. Now, all she could do was wait for the cavalry to arrive while trying not to get her head blown off.

(Meanwhile…)

"Here kitty kitty kitty." Blake muttered and took aim on the tree where the feline had taken cover. So far he had managed to score a hit on her shoulder. By now the morphine was starting to wear off and the burning pain from his broken leg was resurfacing. The pain in his arm was dulling slowly by the minute, on a brighter note. Suddenly, a loud wail resonated through the air, and it was getting louder by the minute. Blake looked up and saw three Cornerian drop ships on approach. "Fuck."

The drop ships touched down at the base of the hill and about forty men piled out. They rushed over and escorted the cat to safety before slowly advancing on the hill. Blake assumed they hadn't saw him yet, so he stayed perfectly still until their heads were at eye level. He sprang up into a sitting position and unleashed a wall of bullets into the mass. Three men dropped, two fell clutching a wound, and the rest dove for cover. A tiger stuck his head out and Blake took his opportunity, scoring a headshot. He had to lay back down to avoid a blaster shot from going straight through his own torso. He got back up and put another three rounds into the chest of another advancing soldier. Blake pressed the mag release button and let the empty clip fall. He reached over and grabbed another, slamming it into place. He sat back up and fired at everyone he saw with short controlled burst, earning three more kills. Suddenly, a laser shot came out of nowhere and seared the flesh in his forearm. Blake screamed in pain, but kept firing. A tomcat tried to run from one tree to another, but he was shot down before he could make it halfway. Out of the corner of his eye, Blake saw a flash. He rolled out of the way as a blaster shot rammed into the rock wall behind him, right where his head should've been. Blake re shouldered the submachine gun and picked of the chameleon with a quick burst of machine gun fire.

"Damn, go too close." He muttered. He would now have to watch his left flank as well. More blaster fire. Blake took aim and fired, but the squirrel ducked back behind the tree just in time. He felt more burning as another energy projectile washed across his torso. Once again, he gritted his teeth and fought on.

"We need reinforcements!" Someone shouted. Almost instantly, more drop ships sailed in with more troops. The blaster fire became even more intense. Suddenly, a bull charged over the top of the hill with his gun raised. Blake fired the rest of the clip into its torso while the bull fired wildly. The bull dropped with a sigh at his feet. But once again, they manage to score a hit on him. Now there was a wound on his leg, the same leg that was broken! Blake's vision began to blur from the pain, but he kept fighting. Blood spilled from his fresh wounds. The gun clicked once more and he changed magazines. He couldn't stay like this. He had to run.

"Push forward!" A fox commanded. The men began to move up rapidly. Blake blind fired over the edge of the hill and heard a scream of pain. He hurriedly grabbed his side arm and began to limp away as fast as his good leg would take him while clutching his heavily bleeding middle.

**ZAP!** A blaster shot nailed him in the back. He fell to the ground, the pain now blinding him. He rolled over on his back and raised his side arm with one hand. He saw a silhouette moving in front of him through the fog.

_**BLAM! BLAM!**_Whoever it was dropped. But they just kept coming.

_**BLAM!**_ A clean headshot took out another.

_**BLAM!**_ This shot missed however, and bought the puma enough time to kick the gun out of his hands and kick him in the head. Blake was knocked out cold, just barely alive from his wounds…

Blake's unconscious body has been carted onto one of the drop ships and flown to Cornerian high command. There, he was put on life support and treated for his broken leg. He had gone into a near comatose state for the first day or so. Then, on the third day, his vital signs stabled. On the morning of the fifth day, he had awoken. As soon as he was cleared out of the medical ward, he was immediately chucked into a prison cell.

So here he sat now, tied to a chair, in a windowless, grey room, on an alien planet, with no knowledge of whether or not his squad had made it out alive. He glanced up at the lone observation window up above. There stood that same fox. With him was another blue fox, a toad, a falcon (Who looked strangely like a parrot), and that same pink cat. He locked eyes with the cat, only for a few seconds, and glared at her. She glared back through her sea green eyes. Their staring contest was cut short when the door creaked open. Blake returned his gaze down and was met with that same hound from the hologram. There was no telling what they wanted from him, but he wouldn't tell them a thing.

"Good afternoon, _Captain._" The dog greeted, spitting out the last word with disgust.

"Good afternoon,_ Fido_." Blake growled back, resulting in a smack across the face. Turns out, the strange blue fox was a telepath, and easily found out about the animals that were common on human inhabited planets. To put it simply, they didn't take too kindly to being called by their little pet names.

"Now, now, there's no need for name calling." Pepper sneered.

"There's also no need to call out all of your forces because of a simple pilot's error."

"What can I say? You were threatening my bread and butter right there."

"YOU, like all smart leaders, should've called them off." Blake shot back angrily, resulting in another blow.

"YOU, like all smart leaders, shouldn't have retaliated."

"He was going to continue his attack. I was only doing what was necessary to protect my men, and once they reach human occupied space, you can all kiss your arses goodbye." Blake snarled. The animals store at him for a moment before bursting out in laughter.

"You-you actually think your men made it out?" Pepper laughed.

"What do you mean?" Blake asked, a sense of fear welling up inside of him.

"This is our turf, boy, not yours. I think we'd know just about every intercept route and hiding spot in the system. When your team entered the asteroid belt, they got a nasty little surprise indeed." Pepper growled with a smirk. Blake didn't say anything as the dog left. He was overcome by a sense of numbness. The very people that were like his second family… gone.

He made sure that they weren't there to see him when the grieving finally caught up with him. He drooped in the chair and silently cried to himself. He was now truly alone, and his squad would just be marked down one of the many patrols marked MIA. No one was coming to rescue him, and he was at the mercy of these aliens.

While he thought he was alone, he wasn't. High above, in the observation room, Katt watched curiously. So far, they had chalked humans up as heartless, blood thirsty creatures. But from what she saw, they could feel, that they had hearts. She shook the thought away and turned to walk out of the room.

'_Serves you right…'_ She thought with finality as the doors hissed closed.

**AN: Next chapter will be up MUCH sooner, I promise. R&R, and until next time!**


	4. New surroundings

"So, what do we do with him?" one of Pepper's advisors asked.

"In all honesty, Caleb, I have no clue." The dog replied, still starring down at Blake from the observation room above the cell. He sat on the edge of the cot with his head in his hands. They had flipped on the blinds, meaning that they could see him, but he couldn't see them. "I'm half considering just executing him."

"Actually sir, I think that would be counter-productive." A voice said from behind. Pepper glanced back and saw a duck. Not just any duck though, Dr. William Mortner, his top medical researcher. This bird had conceived just about every medical breakthrough of the past twenty years! He even developed the highly concentrated calcium solution that once injected, healed Blake's arm and leg in only a day!

"What are you trying to get at Mortner?"

"Let's think about this, General. For the first time in recorded history, excluding Miss Krystal of Star Fox, we've encountered a species previously unknown to Lylatians."

"But now we DO know about them!"

"Yes, but what DON'T we know? So far all we know from observation is that they eat just like we Cornerians, are omnivorous, and have similar bone structure. Beyond that, nothing." Mortner shot back, silencing the hound. "I say that you lend him to the medical research department. Where we'll keep him under constant surveillance and do lab testing."

Pepper thought it over for a minute. What could be the harm? His entire team had been eliminated, so there's no chance of more humans retaliating. And on the plus side, they learn about a new alien race!

"Go ahead, William, I'm authorizing you to do whatever tests you deem necessary." Pepper said. A small light appeared in the doctor's eyes that all men of the medical field got when they were about to stumble upon something revolutionary.

"Thank you, general. We'll have him shipped out immediately." Mortner said excitedly and snapped his fingers. A panel opened on the wall in the cell below. A single nozzle poked out and began to spray a powerful tranquilizer into the room…

… Blake spun around to an odd whirring sound. He saw a panel on the wall that had recently gone unnoticed. A small nozzle poked out and started to make a hissing sound.

"Aw fuck. GAS!" He growled and ran to the opposite side of the room. He began to feel light headed and dizzy. To counter this, he held his breath…

…Already Dr. Mortner was on a data pad jotting down notes.

"Hmm, I wonder if all humans are this resourceful?" he wondered.

"He IS a soldier of his kind, so maybe it's just in his training?" one of his lab assistants suggested. Mortner took note of this and continued to observe the human's struggle to stay conscious.

"We aren't even to the medical research facility and we're already making phenomenal progress!" Mortner exclaimed…

… Blake couldn't hold his breath any longer. He gasped out all of the carbon dioxide in his lungs and unknowingly took in multiple deep breaths of the gas. His world began to spin and all of his limbs felt like spaghetti noodles. He forced himself to stand, using the wall as support. He began to drag himself towards the cot, but collapsed halfway, out like a light. As soon as the gas dispersed, multiple soldiers rushed into the room and hauled him onto a gurney…

… Katt followed closely behind the rest of Star Fox as they made their way back to Cornerian high command. They walked through the front doors of the massive complex and were greeted by a receptionist. They were admitted back to the observation room, where Dr. Mortner was busy packing up research equipment along with some of his assistants.

"Dr. Mortner? Why are you here?" Fox asked. The doctor looked up from his work and smiled at them.

"Ah, Fox McCloud and friends! If no one has told you yet, our little 'guest' is now in our custody! It's so exciting! For the first time, we're going to be able to study an ACTUAL alien! I assume you're all here for the interrogation session?" Mortner asked. Fox nodded. "Very well, you may come with us and ask him all the questions you'd like in his new holding place! Come!"

'_Why are they giving him to the quacks, I wonder?'_ Katt asked herself, chuckling a little at her pun. Mortner rounded up his assistant and lead them all down the hall and out into the main complex: A large, open area with many buildings. The building they went to was a massive, repurposed hangar. They entered and found the space dark, save for a single lit glass box at the center. Inside the box was an unconscious Blake, lying on a twin sized bed with very standard grey sheets. Katt had heard of these before. It was one way glass, meaning they could see in, but the inhabitant of the room couldn't see out. They were commonly used in studies of criminal psychology and things of that nature. The subject would live out their daily lives in the box, completely unaware as to what was going on outside of the space.

'_Of course, they're going to study him! Like an animal…'_ Katt thought bitterly. But once again, she shook the thought away. Why should she care what they did to him? She didn't even know him...

…Blake's eyes snapped open, and immediately shut again as blinding light pierced his vision. He waited a few seconds and slowly opened them again. He wasn't prepared for what awaited him. He seemed to be in a large room with mirrors for walls! In the room were a pretty standard bed, night stand, chair, and table. There were two more doors in there with him: A closet and bathroom.

"Hello?" Blake called nervously. Maybe this was all just a stupid prank that his squad mates pulled on him! "Taylor? Eric? VERY FUNNY! You guys can come out now!" He called. But then the events of the past week dawned on him and his spirits instantly fell. He was a prisoner.

'_Where the hell did these animal fucks take me?'_

"Good morning prisoner #287496! I assume you're wondering where you are?" Dr. Mortner's voice blared over an intercom system, causing him to jump out of his skin…

… Dr. Mortner watched the human's reaction to his voice. He quickly jotted it down.

'_He appears to have the same stimulus to sudden loud noises as we Cornerians!'_

He and everyone else watched as Blake walked up to the glass and put a hand on it…

… For the first time in days, Blake got a good look at himself in the reflective walls of his cell. An average height, muscular, and extremely tan man of twenty five looked back. He had blue eyes, black hair that was cut with the standard military buzz cut, and five O'clock shadow from not shaving for the past week or so. He had bags under his eyes from the stressful events. But then his gaze traveled lower, and saw that he had been stripped of his OD green flight suit and re-dressed with a neon orange prisoner's trousers and tunic.

"You changed my clothes?" he asked.

"But of course! We couldn't have our prime test subject walking about in those rags! Oh, by the way, the only clothes we could find were meant for tailed mammals, so beware that part of your rear is showing."

"Test subject?"

"Yes, I do believe I said that."

"You aren't going to do a DAMN thing, you hear me?" Blake snarled, now becoming angered. He knew it was one way glass. He knew they could see him.

"YOU don't have a choice I'm afraid. Goodbye!" Mortner said. The room was now suddenly quiet. To make matters worse, there was no telling WHO or WHAT was watching him…

… Katt watched the human with pity. He glanced around quickly, obviously paranoid, before going back and sitting on the edge of the bed. In frustration, he slugged the metal headboard as hard as he could, eliciting a scream of pain. He clutched his wrist and drew in a deep breath as if to shout. Doctor Mortner quickly shut off the in-room microphone that allowed them to listen in on whatever was going on in there. So now they watched as Blake began to shout inaudible things at the top of his lungs. Katt read his lips and went wide eyed. Falco snickered.

"Nice move dumbass!" He muttered. Katt shot him a death glare, silencing him.


	5. Welcome to Hell! Enjoy your stay!

_**BLAM!**_ The realistic gunshot rang out from the speakers inside the cell. Blake didn't even flinch, for he was used to it. For the past three days they had randomly played different sounds and noises from the speakers, then recorded his reaction to each. The first time they had played the gunshot, he dove behind the nearest cover as fast as he could. But now, he knew it would happen. By now he had lost the will to live. He spent most of his time curled up on the bed, awaiting death's final call. He hadn't showered yet, for despite his grim situation, he still has some dignity and would not disrobe in front of these doctors or whoever else was watching. But, he wisely kept drinking fluids to prevent dehydration. The hunger pangs rarely bothered him, for the mourning easily dulled them. Now he was in the stage of grief in which you curse yourself for not doing this or that. He blamed himself…

… Dr. Mortner still jotted down notes on his data pad.

"Hmm, he seems to become familiar with the noises. Once again, just like us! By golly, these creatures are exactly like us in almost every way!" he exclaimed. There was only one more thing to find out. "Men, we've successfully figured out these 'humans' psychologically, now I believe it's time we take this into physical experimentation."

Katt picked her head up from her position in the corner where she'd fallen asleep. Watching an alien sleep on a bed all day was NOT her idea of a fun time.

"Physical?" she asked in surprise. Dr. Mortner nodded.

"Yes, physical. What could be inside these creatures I wonder?" Mortner asked an explorative gleam in his eyes. "A little incision across the torso could do wonders! Who knows what awaits us inside of him?"

"That's sick!" Katt spat, obviously disgusted at the thought. They were enemies, sure, but that's just too far!

"What? You actually CARE about him?" Mortner asked challengingly. Katt was about to fight back, but dropped it. "Very well then, seeing as we have no objections, let us move forward!"

A lab assistant tapped the microphone. "Bathe yourself, prisoner #287496! We're going to run a few… 'Lab tests' and we need you to be clean for it."

"." Blake groaned hoarsely. The assistant growled and pressed a button. "AAAAAAAARGH!" Blake screamed in agony and fell of the bed, writhing around on the floor. Katt felt a pang of both guilt and hatred course through her. When they brought him here, they had surgically imbedded a shocking chip into his neck. When he didn't follow orders, they just press a little button and he gets 90,000 volts surged through him. He weakly crawled to the bathroom and didn't shut the door behind him. It's not like it would've helped, they could still see him. Katt's cheeks turned pink when she saw his muscular chest. He seemed to have lost some weight while on his hunger strike, but he still looked sexy as hell.

'_Wait, WHAT? BAD GIRL! BAD!'_ Katt shouted mentally, but her feminine side forced her to gaze at his well-toned muscles.

"Uh, Katt, what are you doing?" Krystal asked in horror. Katt shook her head and found the rest of the team starring at her.

"Oh, um, nothing! I just dozed off for a second." She replied back, her blush growing even stronger. She turned away when the human started to undo his waist band. She heard the water beginning to run…

…Blake was more paranoid since day one. Why shouldn't he be? THEY WERE WATCHING HIM TAKE A SHOWER! Yeah, he'd taken showers with men around, but that was in an army base! Oh god, the way the mirrored walls taunted him! If he was in the middle of Times Square, he wouldn't have known it! For all he knew, he could be on display in a Cornerian zoo! He hurried up and cleaned himself up. When he walked back to the bed, he found a fresh prisoner's outfit waiting for him. Bastards…

… Katt watched as the human redressed himself. As soon as he did, an automated turret popped out of the walls and nailed him in the back with a tranquilizer dart. He crumpled silently to the floor. Doctors ran in and put him on a gurney. They rushed out of the room and past her, headed for an operating table that was set up inside a sterile environment behind paper walls.

'_When I said "Serves you right", I didn't mean this…'_ Katt thought with a pang of guilt.

"Let's get to work!" Dr. Mortner exclaimed and slid the curtains around the operating table shut. Katt heard some kind of power tool activating, and instantly became sick to her stomach. What were they going to do to him?

(Several hours later…)

The sounds of surgery stopped and the curtain slid back open. They carted Blake back to his cell.

"W-what did you bastard d-do to me?" he whispered in terror, examining the incisions that were made along his torso. The doctors ignored him and carted him back to the glass room. They dumped him onto the bed and left.

"Do not worry; the tranquilizer should wear off in a few minutes." Dr. Mortner called. The duck turned to walk over to a computer where the data was stored. That's when Katt took her chance.

"Dr. Mortner?" Katt asked, walking up behind him while he typed.

"Yes, Ms. Monroe?" He replied, not looking back.

"Don't you think you're taking this a little too far?" she asked casually, not wanting it to sound like she actually _cared_ about what happened to Blake.

"No, not at all dear."

"But we still haven't begun the interrogation! And if you keep pushing him like this, who knows what will happen! He's already gone on a hunger strike, so what's next? What if he just up and kills himself before we can get anything out of him?"

"Actually, Ms. Monroe, I believe I am _helping_ your efforts." Mortner shot back, turning around in his office chair and lowering his glasses at her. Katt scoffed and crossed her arms.

"How so?" she challenged.

"Let's see, if you interrogate him while he still has just the tiniest sliver of will, it would make your job that much harder, no?" Mortner explained. "BUT, if we break his will completely by continuing the tests, he let it all out without question."

Katt glared at him. "You're one sick bastard, you know that?"

"Now Ms. Monroe, there is no need for this."

"Yes, there is, _doctor_. This is a man just like everyone here. He has a family, he _had_ friends, and he _had_ a life. Now look at him!"

"Let me make this clear, _miss_. He is _nothing_ like us. Only in body and mind, sure, but no more! May I remind you that just ONE of these creatures killed over one hundred good men? Now, I will have no more talk of this in my laboratory, or so help me God I'll have you booted from the proceedings for becoming emotionally involved!" Mortner snapped. Katt tensed and prepared to give him the biggest cursing out of his life for telling her around, but she remembered that it was his lab and he made the rules. She sighed in defeat and let her arms fall to her sides.

'_Maybe you did deserve the beatings they gave you in the high command, but NO ONE deserves to be experimented on like a lab rat…'_ Katt thought while walking to the exit. She took one last look at Blake before walking out of the hangar. He sat against the headboard of his bed with his knees to his chest, ever so slightly rocking back and forth. He looked tense, on the edge, as if he would reach for the nearest sharp object and off himself at any moment. She regained her composure and forced her usual smile onto her face.

"Hey guys, I'm leaving for the night!" she called to the rest of Star Fox. They all waved.

"Bye Katt!" they called back. Katt slipped out of the door and to her waiting car…

… Blake couldn't take it anymore. He glanced frantically around the room for something that could be used to put him out of his misery, but found none. They had designed the room well. He had heard of soldiers of old biting off their tongues and bleeding out within seconds. He stuck his tongue through his teeth and prepared to chomp down as hard as he could, but he couldn't. He retracted his tongue and slumped.

'_That's right you WEAKLING! FUCKING PUSSY OUT! YOU DON'T HAVE THE BALLS TO DO IT!'_ he shouted at himself. But then he sighed, and hoped that his hunger strike would work. He just couldn't live with himself anymore…

(The next day…)

_**BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!**_ An alarm went off. A single pink paw rose from the depths of the bed sheets and slammed down on the snooze button. With a groan, Katt sat up and store out the window of her high rise apartment in Corneria City. It was a perfectly sunny December day, with not a cloud in the sky. Cars zoomed back and forth and people went about their daily business in the streets far below. There was something peculiar about today? What could it be? Suddenly, her phone went off and Krystal's head appeared.

"Morning, Katt, ready to start the interrogations?"

'_Right, that was it!'_ she thought before replying. "Yeah Krys, I'll be there in a few."

"Later." Krystal said, and then she hung up. Katt sat in bed listening to the sounds of the city for a few minutes before finally climbing out of bed. She dragged herself to the bathroom. Katt Walked over to the small shower stall and flipped on the water. She slipped out of her plaid pajamas and stepped into the scalding hot torrent…

… Blake's eyes snapped open as soon as the bright lights of his cell came on. It meant that the doctors were back, and that he was about to endure more torture.

"Get up #287496; we have a long day ahead of us." Dr. Mortner's voice rang through the speakers. Not wanting to get shocked, Blake sat up and scooted to the edge of the bed.

"Do I get to die?" Blake asked hopefully.

"Not at all! We still have so much work!" Mortner replied, shooting his hopes right out of the sky…

… Katt arrived at the hangar and stepped out of her car. She walked through the hangar door and back to the familiar dark atmosphere of the lab. There, the rest of the team awaited her. They gave her an acknowledging nod as she sat next to them.

"So, which one of us goes first?" Falco asked. No one responded. "Fine, I guess I'm up."

"Go get 'em!" Slippy muttered with fake enthusiasm. Falco shot him a glare and walked off towards the cell. Another dart was shot into Blake and they secured him to a chair. Falco sat across from him, glaring. Blake only responded with a disinterested expression.

"You can't be serious." Blake called to the doctors. "You try to intimidate me, and you send in a PARROT?" a few doctors, and even Star Fox, chuckled at this.

Falco growled and back handed him across the face. "I'm a falcon you piece of shit."

"No, you're a parrot! I can tell by your gay arse feather color. Or did you just do that to impress your boyfriend?" Blake asked with a grin, seemingly unfazed by the blow. This only resulted in another hit.

"Now come on _parrot_, don't kill him before we get a turn!" a woman called with a giggle from outside the cell.

"Shut up, Katt!"

"Make me."

"…" Falco remained silent, and for good reason. He returned his attention to Blake, who was trying his hardest to contain his laughter. "Alright, you piece of shit, where are you from?"

"My mother, of course."

_**SMACK!**_

"Don't play games with me, fuck face!" Falco growled.

"Say please…"

_**SMACK!**_

Blake only continued to laugh, despite the blood dripping from his nose. "Aw, keep it up! I haven't had a laugh in days!"

_**SMACK!**_

".?" Falco snarled.

"Falco, I think it is best that you just step aside and let one of us take over. You don't seem to be making any progress." Krystal called. Falco growled once more before storming out of the cell. A fox replaced him. Blake's eyes narrowed. It was that same bastard who started all of this. Fox glared at him as well.

"Well look who it is." Fox said with a grin. "The little pilot who couldn't."

"Oh really, because last time I checked I blew your arse out of the bloody sky!" Blake grinned back. Fox growled, but didn't hit him.

"Only because you used those cowardly missiles." Fox said with a glare.

"Well, if you were a GOOD pilot, you could've easily shaken them." Blake responded. Fox once again kept his temper in check.

"So, why did you come into our system?" he asked.

Blake shrugged. "We've been passing this one big gas giant-"

"Venom?"

"Is that what you call it? Well, we've been passing 'Venom' for many years now. And this time, we just decided to see what was beyond it."

"Why though?"

"Why not? If it turns out we found a new system to settle, we could get quite a little something to weigh down the pockets with."

"Who is your leader?"

"Ding! Time's up!" Blake said. Fox growled.

"Tell me."

"No." Blake sneered. He had already let his guard down once, but he wouldn't do it again. It's not like he could've told them anything harmful to his race, but he just wanted to get back at them in any way he could. Fox growled again, louder this time.

"I really don't want to have to make this physical."

"Either way, you're getting nothing."

_**SMACK!**_ That's when Fox finally went over the edge. He reached across the space and slugged Blake in the face as hard as he could. Blake grunted and spat some blood out of his mouth. It trickled down his nose and dripped off his chin.

"Now that's not nice," Blake muttered, his head spinning from the blow. "Didn't your mother teach you not to hit?" Fox dove forward and tackled the human, punching him in the face.

"DON'T YOU DARE TALK ABOUT HER!" Fox yelled angrily. Blake's arms and legs were tied, meaning he could do nothing but take the beating.

"And why shouldn't I?" he challenged in between grunts of pain. Someone grabbed Fox and yanked him off the defenseless human. It was the telepath, Krystal or something like that. A soldier came in and stood his chair back up.

"She's dead." Krystal said solemnly. Blake rolled his eyes.

"Oh boohoo! Mine is too, but you don't see me beating the piss out of someone when they crack a bloody mom joke!" Blake snarled. Krystal scoffed.

"That's monstrous!"

"I'm supposed to be _nice_ to the people who killed my second family?" Blake nearly shouted. Krystal remained silent. After a while, she closed her eyes, and Blake felt a presence in his head- prying away at his brain memory by memory.

"What's this?" Krystal asked. She had come upon a picture of a group of twelve year old boys in khaki uniforms with neckerchiefs and belts. Krystal searched through his brain some more. "Boy scouts?" She asked with a puzzled expression. Blake steeled his mental defenses and forced himself to think about a big wooden sign that said "NO TRESPASSING!"

"'.Anything." Blake snarled. Krystal recoiled at his sudden resistance.

"My, you ARE persistent. This will be a challenge indeed." Krystal said and tried again. Blake countered by remembering the one time he had an excruciating hangover back in flight school, and the drill sergeant was yelling at the top of his lungs. "AAAAH!" Krystal screamed in pain and fell off her chair, clutching her head. Blake chuckled.

'_For once, I think I'm GLAD that we got that drunk.'_ Blake muttered in his mind.

"I'm out guys." Krystal muttered, still clutching her head. She left the room and was replaced by a frog. This session ended quite quickly actually. Even when he was sitting, Blake easily towered over the amphibian. Slippy looked timidly up at the human. Blake store back down with a gaunt face.

"I… Uh… I…" Slippy squeaked before going silent. Blake guessed he must've gotten a surge of courage from seeing that he was tied up, so he asked. "Who's your leader, scum?"

"…"

"Hehe…" Slippy chuckled nervously, before backing out of the cell. Blake waited for another person to come in, and when _she_ did, he nearly choked! It was Katt. She gracefully sauntered over to the chair and sat backwards in it so that the backrest was forward.

"Listen,_ kitten_, if I didn't tell them anything, what makes you think I'll tell you something?"

"Please, call me Katt." Katt said while checking her claws. Blake thought about it for a second.

"CAT, huh? Doesn't help much, does it?"

Katt sighed irritably. "No, moron, as in KATHRINE. Damn it, did they forget to slice open your _head_ during the experiments, too?"

Blake was taken aback by her fiery disposition. She was something in the air, but on the ground was something else indeed!

"Oh, and _I'm_ the moron? Your race is the one that fired first." Blake growled. Katt paid him no mind and continued to examine her claws on the back of the chair. She looked up at him, sighed, then went and shut the door to the cell and shut off the microphone inside. They were now cut off from the outside world. She walked briskly over and slapped him across the face,_ hard_. She cupped his chin with her claws and forced him to look into her eyes.

"You listen to me,_ human_, YOU were the one to fire back. I personally didn't want to kill your team mates, but what choice did I have? It was me or them. You might as well stop acting so…_ pathetic_ and deal with it!" She snapped. She turned and stormed out of the room, fuming. She left Blake starring wide eyed at the door. She was angry part at him and, surprisingly, herself. She was angry at Blake for putting it as if _she_ had done it herself, but she was angry at herself partially for causing all of the hurt. But, she shook her head and headed back to her seat. Everyone gave her a strange look.

"What did you do?" Fox asked. Katt sent him a "Shut up" glare and he dropped it. Everyone began to get up from the table to leave for the day.

"Are you coming, Katt?" Falco asked. Katt shook her head.

"Actually, I'll stay here a little while longer. See you guys tomorrow."

"Later Katt!" they called. Katt was left alone with the doctors and Blake. After a while, she began to doze off, and her eyes slowly closed…

**AN: Next chapter, escape.**


	6. Escape & minor setbacks

**AN: Hey guys, are any of you Kung Fu Panda fans? Do you have a KFP fan character that you want to show off to the world? Then come on by my new RP forum, "OC Academy" and meet other OCs! Now, on with the story!**

Blake heard the familiar whir of the tranquilizer shooter. It was time. Time to get out of this horrible place. Turns out, while the doctors were examining him in his sleep, they'd left a pen in his sheets. He hid it safely in his sleeve. When he heard the soft *****_**pfft***_, he made sure to fall limp before the dart could hit him. He lay absolutely still while the doctors hauled him onto the gurney and wheeled him to the operating room.

"Fur regrowth serum, test one." Dr. Mortner announced, holing up a syringe filled with a clear liquid. That's when Blake took his chance. He sprang up from the operating table and rammed his pen straight into the doctor's chest. He pushed Mortner to the ground and reached onto the chair for a surgical scalpel. He lunged off of the table and slit a surprised assistant's throat before he could raise the alarm. Blake snuck over to the paper walls, scalpel in hand, and poked his head out. The rest of the assistants were busily typing away at the computer stations, completely unaware of the carnage just a short distance behind them. Directly in front of the human, with his back turned, was a lightly armed soldier. In a flash, Blake covered the poor dog's mouth and rammed the scalpel into his back. Blake leapt into action, taking the guard's blaster and belt, which contained a knife and other necessary tools. The doctors still hadn't heard. So far so good…

…Katt was roused out of her sleep by something nudging her forehead. Her eyes fluttered open and she found herself face to face with a blaster barrel. She froze with shock, and her eyes traveled past the blaster and up the arm of the owner. She needn't have, for she knew right away who it was. Blake glared at her and put a finger to his lips. He flicked his wrist.

_Stand up._

Katt was forced to comply she stood up and turned her back to him. As soon as she did, a strong arm held her by the throat, and she felt the cold metal of the blaster against her temple. Suddenly, the blaster rose from her temple and aimed straight at the lab assistants.

"No…" Katt whispered in terror.

_**Zap, Zap, Zap, Zap!**_ The assistant didn't have time to shout as they were each silenced with perfect headshots. Blake fired a few more times into the computers. Once they were finished, he nudged Katt on the back of her head with the blaster.

_Move._

Katt once again obeyed. Blake led her towards the back of the hangar and to a back entrance. There, on a table, was the backpack full of Blake's stuff! Blake took the bag and slung it over his shoulders. Blake opened the door and was met with nearly blinding sun light. It felt good to have the heat of a sun on your face again after so much time cooped up in a cell. Sadly, there was no time to enjoy it. They had to move. Blake walked Katt out of the hangar and into a massive complex. His target: the aircraft hangar on the other side…

… "Why did you take me prisoner?" Katt asked as they walked through an alley in between two buildings.

"To see how you like it, kitten." Blake replied. Kat snarled, a tear forming in her eye.

"You didn't have to kill them."

"I beg to differ," Blake muttered. "They would've raised the alarm in a heartbeat."

"Your evil."

"Great observation, now keep moving." Blake grunted and nudged her again. They walked through the deserted space behind the buildings until they reached the hangar. Blake peered through the back door and entered. Inside were many ships, lined up in neat rows and ready for deployment. Guards patrolled here and there on specific routes. Blake took a quick peek around, searching for his ride out of here. There was a nice looking prowler sitting in the corner. It had an auto cannon and plasma bomb launcher attached. Perfect…

…Katt was suddenly yanked through the doors and into the shadow of a small ship. Once again, Blake gave her the silence sign. He grabbed her by the back of the shirt and dragged her with him through the shadows, past the guards, and into the prowler. The prowler was a forty foot long reconnaissance vehicle purposefully designed to remain hidden. It would be perfect for slipping out of system unnoticed. They waited in the shadows to allow another guard to pass before running up to the side of the ship to the loading ramp. Blake nudged Katt.

_Open it._

Katt hesitated, then punched in a universal unlock code used by the military for commandeering civilian vessels. It would unlock any ship they wanted. Blake nudged her once more.

_Go in._

Katt did as she was told and climb up the ramp.

'_Wait, what am I doing?'_ she screamed at herself. She spun around and attempted to round house kick Blake in the temple, but he was too fast. He caught her foot and tossed her against the bulk head. He set the blaster on stun and shot her a few times in the chest, causing her to become paralyzed. Blake dragged her onto one of the bunks in the rear and headed up to the cockpit. He eased himself into one of the pilot's seats…

…'_oh Christ, how do I work this thing?'_ he asked in his mind. The control system was much more different from any human ship. He nervously glanced at the massive sea of flashing buttons before taking a blind shot in the dark. He reached for a big red switch above his head and flicked it. Suddenly, the engines roared to life. That's when things started to go south.

"_Johnson, what the hell's going on?"_ someone shouted over the radio on Blake's belt. They were onto him.

"_It looks like prowler #4587 is powering up!"_

"_But they weren't supposed to deploy until next week!"_

"_This doesn't look good. You call in backup while I take a peek."_ The one called Johnson ordered. Blake sharply inhaled and checked a rear camera feed. Sure enough, a pig was slowly moving towards them with his rifle raised. And if he wasn't mistaken, there were many more on the way. Blake hurriedly looked around some more until he found a throttle lever of some sort. He gently eased it up, and the ship responded by slowly raising itself off the ground. Blake took mental note of the operations of the buttons for later. So, if the throttle lever controlled the hover function, what made them go forward? There was a green switch next to the red one. Blake flicked it, and suddenly the ship lurched forward slightly. He knew that meant he was ready to go. Suddenly, the ship vibrated a little. Out of the belly cam he could see the pig firing at them with his rifle.

"_What the hell is this?"_ someone shouted over the comms. Suddenly, the ship's communicator beeped, and someone that Blake really DIDN'T want to see appeared. It was Pepper. Blake and Pepper had a glaring contest.

"So, you managed to escape your cell. But you won't make it of this planet alive!" he snarled. "Scramble all fighters! Don't let the human escape!" he ordered.

"Yes sir!" Someone off camera responded. Pepper grinned.

"Sorry soldier, but it's over."

"No," Blake growled. "It's only just begun!" and without another word, he switched off the communicator and pushed the throttle forward. His ship slowly glided towards the open hangar doors.

"_CLOSE THE DOORS!"_ someone ordered. The massive steel doors began to slide closed.

"Not this time…" Blake whispered and searched the console for the weapons system. He found the correct button and pressed it. A fully charged plasma bomb shot out of the launcher and incinerated the doors in a fiery blast. The blast even took out some of the ships that would've followed. Blake took the reign and zoomed out of the hangar. When he was out, he took the time to turn around and destroy whatever was left in the hangar before rocketing skyward to the vacuum.

Blake broke through Corneria's atmosphere and found himself in his old territory. Oddly, there were no bogies there to meet him. Strange…

"All units, fire at will!" A commander shouted. Suddenly, fighters zoomed out of nowhere. Blake grit his teeth and pushed the throttle lever as far forward as it would go and aimed the nose towards the asteroid belt. The prowler was meant for stealth, not speed. He would need to hide until they stopped looking for him. While his ship flew forward, he hopped out of his seat and took control of the auto cannon. It was a console with a stick for moving the turret and a button for firing. Just like a video game, he reminded himself. He spun the turret around until it faced the stern of the ship and locked onto the nearest fighter. He lined up the crosshairs and let loose a small burst. Three large bolts of heavily concentrated plasma hurled through space and struck the small craft, causing it to explode and spiral out of control.

"_Man down!_" one of them shouted. More plasma bolts struck the ship, causing it to rock violently. Hopefully the shields would hold up long enough. Another fighter slipped into the sights. Blake fired once, but it looped out of the way. Blake continued to track it with the turret until finally he clipped a wing off. It joined its friend. Even more fighters came into sight. Blake got off the console and headed for the pilot's seat. He grabbed the stick and sent the prowler into a tight roll. Multiple plasma bolts that would've scored direct hits narrowly skimmed the hull, but didn't cause any damage. Blake leveled out again and jumped back into the turret. Luckily, the fighters had grouped up into a tight swarm, allowing for easy kills. He simply fired non-stop into the horde. A third burst into flames, and the rest scattered with only minor damage.

"_DON'T LET HIM GET TO THE ASTEROID BELT!_" the commander shouted. The fighters began to attack more aggressively. Blake had to constantly turn the turret in another direction to take out fighters from all sides. The asteroid belt was still two hundred miles away and closing. Another fighter went down, followed by another. Fifty miles and closing. Blake shot down one more before his view became obscured by a wall of rock. He'd made it! He jumped out of the turret and slowed down his ship. He found a decent asteroid to hide on and landed on it. He cut the power to all systems and watched with silent tears of joy as the fighters harmlessly passed. Without knowing it, he sank to his knees and began sobbing with nothing but sheer joy. He'd done it! He was going home!...

… That was, until he heard a click from behind. He spun around and came face to face with a furious Katt. In her paw was the blaster.

"You're not going anywhere." She snarled angrily. Blake growled in his throat. He was NOT letting some fucking cat ruin his escape! He tensed himself for a fight…

**Read and review please!**


	7. Close quarters

**AN: It's come to my attention that a lot of you are concerned about the Cornerians' behavior. I will go as far as to say that there is a REASON that I'm making them act this way. I know perfectly well that Pepper's acting a little off his rocker and what not, and that the Cornerians in general are a little trigger happy. But, trust me, all in good time my fellow writers, all in good time!**

Katt's grip on the blaster tightened as she trained it on him in the dim emergency lighting. Blake readied himself. Both of their hearts were pounding in their chests in anticipation for the battle. Blake waited for the right moment. If he attacked at the wrong time, his guts would be splattered all over the bulkhead. Suddenly, Katt blinked, and Blake took his chance. He dove forward and grabbed her wrist, shoving the blaster away from them. It went off and melted part of the bulkhead. Blake then spear chopped her in the throat, causing her to let go of the blaster. He kicked it away with his foot. All of this happened in 2.5 seconds…

… Katt's throat felt like it was on fire! She gritted her teeth despite the pain and raised her hands in defense. Blake took a step towards her, raising his fist to strike. That's when Katt took her chance and landed a jab to his jaw. Blake staggered back a little, but regained his balance and took a fighting stance. Their eyes locked, and the message was clear.

No weapons, no back up, no escape, just pure combat.

Blake and Katt both surged forward at the same time, both completely focused on the battle. Blake tried to side kick her in the abdomen, but Katt jumped back. She brought her fist up to block a mean right hook and jabbed him once more with her free hand. Blake growled and upper cut her under the chin. Katt fell backwards onto the deck. She rolled to the side to avoid a combat boot that would've ended it right there. She swept Blake's legs out from underneath him, causing him to tumble to the floor alongside her. They both jumped up and went at it again. Blake ducked a haymaker and slugged Katt in the stomach. Katt bent forwards, the air knocked out of her. Blake didn't let up. He put his hands on her shoulders and kneed her savagely in the face. Katt screamed in pain with whatever air was left in her lungs as she flew back and slumped against the wall. She sat still with blood flowing freely from her nose, trying to regain her breath. Her lungs, nose, throat, and stomach were filled with unspeakable pain. She heard the radio buzz.

"_Has anyone seen Katt Monroe?" _a man's voice said over the radio. For a second, Katt's spirits were raised. Until:

"_Why?"_

"_There's a warrant for her arrest. She's been seen aiding the human in his escape!"_ the man's voice said. Katt store wide eyed at the little device, too shocked for words.

"No!" She whispered in disbelief. Blake looked at the radio with a confused expression. Katt hugged her legs to her chest. She shook her head in denial. "NO!"

"…" Blake stayed silent and watched the feline with concern. Katt suddenly jumped up, anger coursing through her veins, the pain gone.

"YOU BASTARD!" she roared as she charged Blake. Blake didn't react in time as he was tackled to the ground. Katt released all of her furry on him. She punched, kicked, and clawed wherever she could. Blake tried his hardest to retaliate, but he couldn't bring up his defenses fast enough. Finally, Katt tired and scooted off of him. She got up and sat on a bunk, still hugging herself. Blake propped himself up against the bulk head. For the next five minutes no words were exchanged as they caught their breath and glared at each other with hatred. The air in the small space was tense, as if it knew that they were on the verge of killing each other. Finally, Blake stood up and limped over to the small bathroom on board. He turned on the sink and began to wash the blood off his face. Katt snarled.

"WHAT? YOU'VE GOT NOTHING TO SAY?" She shouted at him. Blake continued to ignore her. She growled in her throat and briskly walked towards him. As soon as she reached a hand out to grab him, he spun around and pinned her to the wall by her throat.

"Listen to me," He snarled. "I'm NOT going back. And from what I hear, you won't exactly be getting a warm welcome either. You can either shut up and come along with me, or jump out the airlock. From the looks of it, you really don't have a say in the matter. You might as well stop acting so… _pathetic_ and deal with it." Blake said with finality. He felt a surge of pride as he used her exact words against her. He released her and walked back into the living space and sat on a bunk. He hung his head in silence, breathing deeply. Katt watched him from the bathroom door. Finally, he picked himself up and trudged to the cockpit. He began to flick switches and the ship came back to life. It slowly lurched off the asteroid and began to glide forward. Blake had to focus fully on the asteroids ahead and make his course corrections accordingly. He had to make sure to keep is ship powered down just enough to keep it off any instruments. Finally, they broke free of the asteroid belt. Ahead, Blake saw Titania. He checked the map on the dashboard to see which way was the patrol route and readjusted his course appropriately. He gunned the engines to give himself some speed and cut the power again, letting the momentum take them to their destination. He walked back out into the cabin and saw Katt sulking on a bunk. He sighed, then walked into the closet. Inside he found many changes of clothes, mostly military uniforms, but they would do. He was getting tired of his bright orange prison outfit. He grabbed a black flight suit and headed to the bathroom again. Blake locked the door behind him, shed his clothes, and stepped into the small shower. It felt good to be able to take a shower without anyone watching…

…Katt nearly jumped off the bunk when the water suddenly turned on. Her head turned to face the bathroom. Now was her chance. Not to escape, however, because she knew Blake was right about not getting a warm welcome, but because she wanted to know more about him. Who was this guy? What was his story? She silently crept over to his backpack and reached inside. His knife, pistol, and SMG had been taken up for research, leaving only a few items- a strange looking wrist watch, a first aid kit, and whatever was left of the MREs and canteens. Katt picked up the wristwatch and gazed at it with upmost curiosity. On the back were the words "IPod Touch- 10th Gen". Like they always say, curiosity killed the Katt! She strapped the device on her wrist and found two ear buds that popped out of the side of the device. Of course, it was an MP3 player! She put the ear buds in her ears and pressed a button on the side. Suddenly, a holographic screen appeared inches above the face of the device. On the screen were several icons. Katt chose the one titled "music", and then selected "artists". So, this was human music, huh? She scrolled through the names of different bands before selecting on that caught her eye.

'_Kataklysm?'_ she wondered in her mind. Katt shrugged and touch the screen. A list of different songs by the artist appeared. She chose "The Road to Devastation". She instantly regretted it, for she was bombarded by a deafening symphony of guitars and drums. She quickly backed out of the song and threw away the IPod. She hugged her legs to her chest against the wall, glaring at the other wall. She heard the water stop running, and a few minutes later Blake stepped out, dressed in a black flight suit. It sickened her to see him in fellow Cornerian's clothes. She glared as he walked past. He only glared at her in return and sat on a counter top across from her. Here they were, two mortal enemies, hunted by the same people, stuck together in the cramped spaces of a prowler, somewhere in space. This was the life, huh?

… A few hours passed, and Katt and Blake still hadn't said a _word_ to each other. Katt was starting to feel hunger pangs. The effects of Blake's hunger strike were starting to catch up with him as well. Finally, he stood up and walked over to his backpack. He looked at his IPod, which had been roughly thrown across the room. He picked it up and glared at her.

"Watch it, these things aren't cheap." He growled. Katt rolled her eyes.

"Sorry, it was just so disgusting. It _was_ touched by a _human_ after all." She spat.

"Oh don't you worry, _kitten_, I'm sure you've handled worse _things_." He said with a cocky smirk. Katt scoffed angrily.

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" she challenged. Blake glared at her.

"Oh, don't play dumb with me miss '_pilot'_. I'm pretty sure you've grabbed a '_control stick'_ before." Blake shot back. Katt growled.

"Are you saying that I'm a _slut_?"

"I don't think I could've said it better myself."

"Argh! You little bastard!" Katt shouted angrily, but didn't do anything. Blake just smirked to himself and reached into his back pack. He pulled out a "spaghetti and garlic bread" MRE, with apple pie for dessert. Katt watched with intrigue as he pulled out the packet of spaghetti and dropped it into the small cardboard box. He then walked over the bathroom sink and turned on the faucet, only letting in a tiny amount of water before shutting it off again. He set that aside and did the same with the garlic bread. Katt's eyes went wide when he pulled the spaghetti out of the box and it was steaming, then sliced it open and began to spoon out spaghetti. Then he reached over and pulled out the garlic bread, which resembled a giant pop tart. He noticed her starring and cocked his head.

"What?" he asked, glaring.

"Damn, all I wanted to know is what that is. Jesus…" Katt grumbled and crossed her arms.

"You're telling me that you've never seen an MRE?"

"Em are E?" Katt asked, raising an eyebrow.

"A 'Meal. Ready. To Eat.'"

'_Oh, MRE!'_ Katt corrected herself. Then she glared at him. "No, I haven't."

"They're standard issue for all soldiers."

"_Human_ soldiers, maybe, but not Cornerians." Katt responded with a disinterested expression.

"What do you guys get, then?"

"Food tubes."

"_Food tubes?_" Blake asked with a hint of disgust. Katt rolled her eyes.

"Yes, _food tubes_, is there a problem with that?"

"That just sounds weird."

"…" Katt stayed silent before throwing her hands up in defeat. "Screw this, it's like talking to a kindergartener…" she cried before lying sideways on a bunk. She lay like that for a few minutes, listening to the sound of Blake eating his first meal in days. The smell of spaghetti reached her nostrils and she felt her mouth beginning to water. Spaghetti was her favorite after all. She shook her head and tried not to focus on the food. But, alas, she gave in. how the human was able to stick to the hunger strike, she'll never know. She sat up from the bunk and nervously walked over to Blake, holding her hands behind her back.

"What do you want, kitten?"

"Please, call me Katt."

"Then call me Blake."

"Fine."

"Fine. So, what do you want Katt?"

"I was just wondering if, well…"

"You could have some?" Blake finished for her. Katt nodded and gave him the instinctual "Begging face" that all Cornerians possessed. Blake had to admit, it was pretty damn cute. It was almost as if he was looking at a house cat back home at his door, only this one was five foot tall and could speak English. He sighed. "Oh well, why not? Do unto others…" he muttered and handed her another fork. She looked at him with a confused expression.

"You don't have another plate?" she asked, half worried. Blake shook his head no. Katt hesitated, but her hunger got the best of her. She greedily took a spoon full and savored the flavor. They ate in relative silence, only speaking to ask to pass the pie or garlic bread. The highlight of dinner was when they both scooped up one really long noodle and began to suck it into their mouths at the same time like Lady and the Tramp! They stopped just short of their lips touching, and store at each other wide eyed. Then all hell broke loose…

… Katt's shocked expression turned to a furious glare. She tore off her half of the noodle and swallowed.

"YOU SLIMY BASTARD! YOU TRIED TO _KISS_ ME!" she shouted angrily at the top of her lungs. Blake glared as well.

"I DID NOT! IT WAS A FUCKING ACCIDENT! YOU should've been watching where you were grabbing. I bet you people tell you that a lot!" Blake shouted back and walked over to the bottom bunk. He scooted in.

'_Let's see, we won't reach the patrol route for another eight hours. So I need to set the alarm to go off in seven hours' time…'_ Blake thought and started setting an alarm on his IPod. Katt, meanwhile was glaring at him from the counter. Blake rolled his eyes at her.

"What?" he called.

"I want the bottom bunk." She said, crossing her arms.

"Too bad. You should've hurried up."

"I don't think you understand. I want the bottom bunk."

"I don't think YOU understand. You snooze, you lose!" Blake shot back. "Why does it even matter?"

"To make sure YOU don't do anything while I'm asleep."

"Yes, that makes PERFECT sense. Kill the ticket to my survival! WHY FUCKING NOT?" Blake groaned, face palming. Katt snarled.

"MOVE!" she growled, grabbing his arm and tugging. But it was no use, he was larger than her.

"No." Blake said, rolling over and facing the wall. Katt let out an aggravated sigh.

"Fine. The nerve of some people…" She growled and slipped into the bed next to him.

"What are you doing?"

"This way, if you try leaving the bed, I'll immediately know!" she retorted.

"You're stubborn."

"And you aren't?" Katt shot back.

"…" they lay in the dim emergency lighting, Blake facing the wall on the inside, and Katt facing the interior of the ship on the outside. Neither of them said a word, but you could easily tell they were both fuming. To make matters worse, the bunk was only meant for one person. Katt was pretty much laying _on top_ of Blake. Katt was sickened, to say the least, but she forced herself into a troubled sleep…

**Read and Review!**


	8. Near death experiences

**AN: My name is Hookem H. 12, and I approve this message…**

**TACOS RULE!**

Katt dreamed feverishly. First, she dreamt that she was back on Corneria, trying out some new club with the rest of her friends. Second, she dreamt that she was dodging bullets from humans and Cornerians alike. Lastly, and the scariest dream, she dreamed that she had woken up next to Blake…

…With no clothes on…

_That's_ what caused her to awaken in a cold sweat. But wait, what's this? She felt a shifting weight rolling over her. As if someone was trying to get out of the bed!

"KYAH!" she shouted and grabbed Blake, who'd been trying to get out of the bed by going _over_ her, by his shirt. Blake let out a yelp of surprise as Katt rolled them off the bunk so that Blake landed underneath her. She pinned him down and slammed him for good measure on the deck.

"Bloody hell!"

"Nice try, _human_, but did you really think I would let you kill me that easily?" She asked furiously. Blake looked at her with a blank face.

"God damn, a guy can't go use the john in the morning?" he asked, just as angered. Katt blushed at his brute terminology and let go. Blake stood up and walked into the bathroom. A few minutes later he came back out and headed to the cockpit. Katt walked up behind him, and saw that he was furiously scanning an interstellar map.

"What are you doing?" she asked. He didn't look back at her.

"I just now realized how poorly equipped we are. A few MREs, a small water filter, and a miniature first aid kit won't get us to earth. We still have about an hour before we reach the patrol route, so we still have time." He explained. Katt thought it over for a minute before coming to the conclusion that it made sense.

"But where would we get the necessary equipment?" Katt asked. Just then, the radar started going off.

"Shit, we've got company." Blake growled and hit the emergency cut off button that was standard issue on all prowlers. It cut every single system in the ship, making it completely invisible on all scanners and radars. The ship began to vibrate.

"Stay absolutely quiet." Blake whispered and sat still in his chair. Katt did as she was told and braced herself on a rail. The vibrating turned into a violent rocking. Suddenly, the front end of a massive object came over the top of the ship from behind. Within seconds it filled the view port. It didn't take long to realize that it was a massive ship of some sort, nearly the size of an asteroid! Finally, the whole thing passed over them and began to grow smaller in the distance.

"Oh my God…" Katt whispered as the power came back on.

"What the fuck was that?" Blake asked.

"Sargasso Space Station."

"What?"

"The home of Star Wolf…" Katt muttered. "Star Fox's rival."

"What an original name…" Blake chuckled and took control of the ship. He pointed the nose at the massive space station and headed full throttle for it.

"What the hell are you doing?" Katt asked in terror.

"This is our only chance to get supplies." Blake muttered. "Get suited up! We have to do this fast, and get out before anyone realizes what the hell's going on."

Katt hesitated before running back to the living quarters to get ready…

…Katt gripped the armrests in her seat with upmost anticipation. Blake had guided the prowler behind a massive cargo ship awaiting entry.

"This is insane!" she hissed. Her claws were ripping the arm rests to pieces. "This'll never work!"

"Yes, it will." Blake muttered calmly, his full attention focused on the cargo ship. He flipped through the radio frequencies until he found the one that Sargasso used.

"_This is control center to Minerva. You are clear for docking."_

"_Roger that, control center, commencing docking procedures."_ The captain of the _Minerva_ responded. The ship lurched forward, towards a massive set of steel doors on the hull of Sargasso that were slowly opening. Blake flipped a few switches and guided the prowler so that it was safely hidden in the shadow of the cargo ship. He followed it until it was inside the hangar, which was the size of five football stadiums. Ships of every conceivable kind were lined up in rows, ranging from fighters to massive ships like the _Minerva._ Far back in the corner were three fighters of the same design, sitting on a raised platform.

"Wolfens…" Katt whispered. "It's their Arwings, basically."

"Then we need to destroy them, if the shit hits the fan…" Blake whispered. He steered the prowler away from the _Minerva_ and guided it to a shadowy corner where it would go unnoticed. He aimed the nose towards the hangar doors just in case and set her down. He cut the power and climbed out of the seat. He walked into the closet and tossed a large duffel bag to Katt.

"What are these for?" she asked.

"We're going to need food, water, and weapons. I figure we just go to the cargo hold, take what we need, then leave." Blake replied, strapping on the tool belt and turning on the blaster. He checked the external cameras to see if the coast was clear. It was.

"Let's move." He commanded, opening the side hatch. He and Katt stepped out into the noisy atmosphere of the hangar. There was plenty of cover, perfect. Blake reached onto the belt and handed Katt a headset. "Communication is vital. If anything happens, we need to stay informed, understood?"

Katt nodded, and they set off. They skirted around the edges of the large space, using the shadows of ships, until they found a small door. They walked through it and into a well- lit corridor.

"So far no activity…" Katt whispered. Blake nodded and they silently crept through the corridor. Suddenly, they heard voices from down the hall and around the corner. From the looks of it, they were getting closer! Both Blake and Katt searched frantically for a means of escape. Blake spotted a small door marked "maintenance" and nudged Katt. She got the memo and darted inside _just_ as a group of heavily armed, gruff looking Cornerians strolled past. Blake nearly choked at the conversation:

"So, did you hear about that alien on the loose? I hear the pencil pushers are paying big bucks if we haul 'em back!"

"I did. I hear that Katt Monroe actually _helped_ him escape. I think they put a price on her head as well."

"Heh, maybe they'll just let us take _her_ as a little reward!" someone else said. This resulted in the group erupting in laughter. They walked out of the door and into the hangar. Blake heard Katt growling in the darkness.

"We can't stay out in those corridors. Let's see if we can't get to the cargo bay through here." Blake whispered, knocking Katt back on track. Blake reached onto the belt and found a flash light. He flicked it on and found himself in a narrow maintenance corridor. He motioned for Katt to follow. Luckily, directions to various parts of the ship were painted on the floor, allowing them to reach their destination in record time. On the floor of the shaft was a trap door. Katt reached down and pulled it up, revealing a ladder leading down to a catwalk hundreds of feet above another massive bay. The only difference between this one and the last was that this one had massive shelves lined with crates. Forklifts moved to and fro, taking and replacing crates of supplies. Blake went first, slowly climbing down the ladder and landing silently on the catwalk. Katt followed suit, and they both surveyed the area. Katt pointed out an area where the forklifts seemed to avoid. Blake nodded. That's where they'd start. Blake scanned the system of catwalks for a route to the spot. There was one, but it was patrolled by armed guards. Blake pondered a response, before finally coming up with one.

"I have an idea," he said to Katt. "But you're probably not going to like it."

Katt sighed. "I didn't like this idea in the first place." Blake only chuckled and shook his head before motioning Katt to follow. She cocked an eyebrow and crept silently along behind Blake. He led her to a spot on the catwalk just before the part that was patrolled. He slipped his duffel on like a backpack, and she hesitatingly did the same. What she wasn't prepared for was when he climbed over the railing of the catwalk and lowered himself beneath it. He dangled from a small support beam running the length of the pathway, right above a six hundred foot drop to his death.

"You coming kitten?" he asked. Katt scoffed.

"." Katt retorted in terror. "I don't do heights."

"You're a _pilot_, and you don't do heights?"

"That's different!"

"Fine," Blake said in defeat. "I guess you can stay here and be those guys' _reward_."

Katt sighed irritably and steeled her nerves. "Fine."

She climbed over the rail herself. She cast a glance downward and shuddered. If they fell… well, she tried not to think about it as she gripped the tiny support beam with both hands. Blake began to traverse the beam, hand over hand. Katt begrudgingly did the same.

"Don't look down…" Blake whispered into the comm. Katt did as she was told and found that it took some of the edge out of her, but she kept in mind that letting go meant death. To her surprise, the guards didn't look down as they scooted right beneath their feet. They simply stared straight off into space. Figures, they obviously doubted anyone would be crazy enough to do what they were doing. Slowly but surely, they reached their destination.

"_Never_ make me do that again." Katt grumbled as Blake yanked her over the rail.

"I didn't make you, you agreed to it." Blake said and walked over to a ladder leading down into the deserted area. He began to lower himself down, Katt right behind him. Katt considered her options. She _could_ kick him off the ladder, and then have a chance at setting things right back at HQ. But, she decided against it, for she had a gut feeling that it wouldn't work. Not to mention, he'd shared his first meal in weeks with her. No, she would continue on with him, for he was her only shot at clearing her name. Finally, she felt solid ground beneath her feet again, and made a silent pledge to never take her feet of the floor _ever_.

"Which way?" she asked. Blake jerked his thumb down the line of shelves. They came upon a crate with several markings on it and took their chance. Blake pried off the lid with his knife. The box contained…

… Food tubes. Katt's eyes sparkled at the sight. It was an entire crate of little packets that looked like Go-Gurt. The difference was, each tube contained a whole meal, in yogurt form, and left one completely satisfied when they were through. Katt shrugged off her duffle bag and began to greedily scoop out the delicacies by the paw full into it.

"We have enough food here to last us years!" Katt exclaimed her bag half full.

"Well that's that. It's time to find water, medical supplies, and weapons." Blake whispered. Katt nodded and Blake handed her a box opener. They each separated. Blake came upon another crate and found it filled with water bottles. He filled his bag a third of the way up with them. Katt discovered a crate of medical kits and stashed away a few. Katt also found an additional crate of water. The biggest discovery, however, was when Blake opened a crate supposedly filled with guns.

"Oh my God…" he whispered in shock. He reached down into the crate and pulled out a fresh, unused M16 carbine.

"What is that?" Katt whispered, cocking her head.

"Bloody hell! These are human made!" Blake whispered. He stashed the rifle in his pack and for good measure, tucked away two more.

"How did Cornerians end up with human made weapons?" she asked.

"I don't know. Katt, I'm starting to get the feeling that our species have met before…"

"But h-how?"

"Probably pirates, smugglers, gun runners. You say that these Star Wolf people are criminals?" Blake asked. Katt nodded. "Well there's our answer."

Katt was still in shock as Blake opened another crate and found it full of thirty round clips for the M16s. Katt walked over and filled her pack the rest of the way with ammo. Blake did the same.

"We need to get out of here, and get back to my home planet. Then we'll expose this little stash, and we _should_ be deemed innocent, and end all of this." Blake said. He motioned for Katt to follow him back to the ladder. On their way, a blaster bolt struck the concrete near their feet. The looked up and saw the armed guards running and shouting.

"We're compromised!" Katt said. Blake grabbed her hand and ran.

"There's too many of them! We have to run!" he shouted and led them down and around the corner. Up ahead, there was a door. Suddenly, it burst open, and soldiers streamed out of it with their guns raised. Blake and Katt turned on their heels and ran in the opposite direction, blaster bolts nipping at their feet. Katt nudged Blake and pointed out a ladder on the wall that led up to the catwalk. Blake got the message and latched on, scurrying up faster than any normal human. He helped Katt up and they ran. Once again, they found their way blocked by soldiers. Blake hurriedly glanced to the side and found that the shelves were level with the catwalk. He grabbed Katt's paw and darted to the rail, leaping over and landing on the top of the shelf. Straight on the other side was another ladder leading up into the maintenance shaft. He and Katt bolted straight down the top of the shelf at full speed. Blaster shots rang out through the air, creating a hellish cacophony in the atmosphere of the cargo bay. The ladder came closer and closer by the second. Suddenly, one of the blaster bolts hit one of the forklift drivers, causing the machine to hurdle itself straight into the shelf they were on. Blake felt the shelf lurch beneath their feet, and knew it wasn't going to hold up.

"GO! GO! GO!" he shouted urgently. That's when the shelf slowly began to tilt to the right. If they waited any longer, the ladder would rise up out of reach and they'd be done for. Blake slung the duffle on his back and dove for the ladder, grabbing onto the bottom rung. Katt hesitated in her jump, causing her to go short. When she realized her mistake, she began to scream in terror. The shelf below her evaded her feet, signifying that it was collapsing. She flailed her arms and legs, desperate to grab the ladder that wasn't there. When she caught nothing, she braced for the end. Suddenly, she stopped falling! She looked up and saw Blake hanging onto the ladder with one hand and holding her by the duffle with the other. She reached up and grabbed his hand with both of hers. He lifter her up easily until she could grab the ladder as well. Blake began to climb up to the hatch in the ceiling. Katt looked down and saw the massive shelf crash to the ground some six hundred feet below. She shuddered at how close she'd come to death and climbed up. When she pulled herself out of the hatch, Blake slammed it shut and locked it. Katt curled up against the wall, shivering and hugging her chest in shock.

"You saved me…" Katt whispered under her breath, unheard by Blake. Blake shook her rigorously.

"COME ON! WE HAVE TO MOVE!" he ordered. Katt slowly nodded her head and stood up. "LET'S GO!" Blake shouted, bringing her back to reality. They sprinted down the corridor and back into the hangar. Alarms were going off everywhere, and men were running and shouting. No one seemed to notice the pair as they snuck back aboard their ship. Once inside, Katt collapsed on the floor. Blake tossed their duffle bags onto the bunk. "KATT, I NEED YOU TO MAN THE TURRET AND DESTROY AS MANY FIGHTERS AS YOU CAN WHILE THEY'RE STILL ON THE GROUND! GO FOR THE WOLFENS FIRST!" Blake shouted at her. Katt stepped behind the turret console and powered it up as she felt the ship rising into the air. The men on the ground noticed and began to fire on them with their blasters. Katt rotated the turret so that it locked onto the Wolfens.

"Sorry, Wolf." She chuckled wryly before destroying all three ships where they sat. She began to unleash hell on whatever ships lay scattered across the hangar as Blake skillfully piloted the ship to the doors. Once he had a clear shot, he gunned the engines and zoomed out. They easily outran whatever little defenses were left and lost them. Blake turned on the auto pilot and stood up from his chair. Katt turned around. They both looked at each other with blank expressions and headed to the living quarters. Once inside, they heated up the last MRE and split the contents once more. When finished, Katt asked Blake something that had been lingering on her mind.

"Blake?" Katt asked. Blake nearly choked in surprise, for it'd been the first time she'd ever used his name.

"Katt?"

"Why?" Katt asked. "Why did you save me, back in that cargo bay?"

Blake shrugged. "Because you had all of the food." He replied with a grin. He held up his hands in defense when Katt's claws extracted. "KIDDING! No, in all seriousness, I had to. Whether you think it or not, Katt, I don't hate you enough to let you die. And whether we think it or not, we need each other to survive, as bad as it sounds. And whether I think it or not, I need someone to watch my back through this. So do you." he said. Katt looked at him with genuine surprise. Blake turned and walked into the cockpit without another word.

**AN: Read and review please! I'll give you a cookie if you do! (Not really, but it's a good thought, right?)**


	9. The beginnings of conspiracy

**AN: Thank you all for your reviews! You guys are the greatest! **

**Anyways, if any of you guys are Sonic the Hedgehog fans, you should really check out "The5thbeatle5" and his work. He has this funny as hell story called "Sonic Boom". I strongly suggest that you swing by it and take a look for yourself! Now, on with the story!**

As the days passed, Blake's and Katt's tempers decreased dramatically. They had to, after all. It wouldn't do to have a fight to the death in a cramped prowler. But that doesn't mean they didn't have their moments, like say, Blake forgetting to knock when Katt was taking a shower, or the two of them waking up cuddled against each other on the small bunk (resulting in Katt electing to let Blake stay in his own bed.). But other than that, nothing in particular!

Blake sat in his pilot's chair, rubbing the bandaged scar from Katt's claws. Needless to say, the shower incident didn't go unpunished.

"Crazy bitch…" he muttered under his breath.

"Oh stop your whining!" Katt snapped, but there was no malice behind the words. She continued to file her claws while Blake counted down the minute 'til they reached the Abel system. So far they were 23,000 miles and closing. It would only be 15 minutes max at this rate.

"So…" Katt said after a few minutes of uncomfortable silence. Blake spun around in his chair.

"What?"

"What do you think will happen to me? When we come in contact with your kind?"

Blake sighed and rubbed his temple. "Honestly, I don't know Katt. I know that they won't be as cruel to you as your kind was to me, but I don't know what they'll do."

"That's it?" Katt asked, her temper flaring. "'_you don't know.'_? What if they do experiments on ME? WHAT WOULD YOU DO?"

Blake raised his hands in defense. "Calm down. If push comes to shove, I won't let them take you."

Katt's mood softened a little. "Promise?"

"I promise. You've done too much for me to just up and leave you like that." Blake said. Without warning, Katt lunged forward and hugged him. Blake stiffened in shock for a minute before hugging her back.

"Blake… Thank you…" she whispered. Suddenly, the alarm began to go off. Katt let go and climbed into the co-pilot's seat. Blake began typing commands furiously into the keyboard.

"We have a massive object exiting slip space! About five thousand miles to our port bow!" Blake said. The space to their left began to ripple, like a pond when a stone is thrown into it. Then, a hole began to open in it, giving way to a white matrix. The wormhole opened to its full size, about 100 miles across. A small black dot moved out of it. Blake activated the observation scope, and gasped in surprise.

Sargasso Space Station slowly drifted out of the wormhole, like the kraken of Atlantis. The communicator beeped, and a wolf with a bionic eye appeared. He sneered menacingly at them.

"So you two are the people who destroyed my ship! It's a pity you had to leave before we could give you… a proper Star Wolf welcome…"

… Captain Logan Baxter awoke to an alarm going off in the base. He and Bravo Patrol were currently stationed at Churchill Field on the rainforest planet of New Britannia. It was a British controlled planet, hence the name. He and his squad sat up in their bunks, rubbing their heads, before jumping into action. Everyone flew out of their beds and began to suit up for takeoff.

While he was donning his flight suit, he began to think about what had happened to Alpha Patrol last month. The poor bastards had gone MIA, presumed KIA, near the lone gas giant in sector 158. The news had shocked the whole force. Alpha was their best, and just like that, they'd disappeared. Everyone guessed it had been pirates, which would be most likely. Sector 158 was basically their playground.

With a shake of his head, he resumed his work. Time for some fun…!

…Blake glared at the wolf. Not like he could say anything. He DID break into his home and steal his stuff. The wolf looked at Katt and snarled.

"Katt Monroe, I'm disappointed in you. This is the repayment we get for saving your life?"

Katt growled. "You only saved me because you were getting paid, _Wolf_."

"Wait, so that's his name? _Wolf_?" Blake asked, interjecting. Wolf turned to him and growled.

"Yes, that's my name,_ human_. Is there a problem with that?"

Blake smirked. "No problem, it's just not very original."

Wolf barked angrily. "WHY YOU LITTLE INSIGNIFICANT- SCRAMBLE THE FIGHTERS! BLOW THESE FUCKERS TO OBLIVION!"

The link went dead, and Katt snarled angrily. "Way to go, dumbass!"

Blake laughed and grabbed the controls. "I had to do that, just this once." He said before gunning the ship as fast as it could go towards the Abel system.

… Captain Baxter and his team entered the briefing room. Admiral Whiten was there to meet them. He brought up a scanner image showing a wormhole opening in the blackness of space. A massive ship began to drift out from it.

"Gentlemen, this unknown ship entered Abel controlled space not five minutes ago. It is of no design that we know of. We suspect that it's the same thing that got Alpha squad. We need you to go out there and find out what the hell it is." Admiral Whiten said, putting his hands behind his back. Bravo Patrol stood up and saluted.

"SIR, YES SIR!" they responded in equal measure. Without another word, they filed out of the door and double timed it for their F/A 33s, which sat ready for action on the tarmac…

… Blake took the prowler into another roll to avoid a wall of laser shots. Katt was busy on the turret, blasting whatever moved.

"Come on people, you should've had a team out here by now." Blake cursed under his breath as the ship rocked again from a hit. The shields were dropping fast! The turret could only do so much, and there were so many!

"Real smart move! Make fun of his fucking name!" Katt growled from her console.

"Oh shut up and shoot!" Blake growled back…

…Bravo Patrol raced through the black, headed towards the tiny flashes of laser fire in the distance. Baxter checked the scopes and saw a medium sized tubular ship with a small turret on top. It was firing back at a bunch of smaller fighters while running towards them at top speed.

"Bravo Patrol, confirm that you have eyes on the tubular ship." the control center back on New Britannia called to them.

"Roger, control. Rules of engagement?" Baxter asked, his finger draping loosely over the trigger.

"Do not attack unless attacked. Try to find out what's happening first. These ships sure as hell aren't human."

"Roger that." Baxter said. He flipped through the comm frequencies and hailed the lone ship with the turret. "Unknown craft, this is Captain Logan Baxter of Bravo Patrol, of the United Nations Air Force. What is the nature of your business here?"

The comm was silent, and then came back on. A holographic image of an unshaven human appeared on his dashboard.

"Bloody hell! Baxter? It's O'Brien, of Alpha!" the man shouted at him in an Irish accent. Baxter's eyes went wide.

"O'Brien? How the fuck-"

"There's no time! Everything behind us is hostile! KILL THEM ALL!" Blake shouted urgently, the image lagging as his ship took another shot. Baxter nodded and shut off the link. He addressed his team.

"Men, engage everything except for the tube shaped ship. That ship has a fellow serviceman onboard."

"Roger." Came the multiple replies as his team split up.

"Missiles away." A man said. Baxter watched as two AIM-11s streaked through the vacuum and split up. Each found their target and vaporized it in a fiery explosion that lit up the darkness.

"WHAT'S THIS?" An unknown voice shouted over the comms. Baxter assumed it was one of the hostile ships. "Back off! He's _our_ reward!"

"Reward? That man is a fellow serviceman along with the rest of my squad. You are engaging in hostile acts against the United Nations Armed Forces. Leave now, or we will be forced to subdue you." Baxter ordered. His response was followed by a chorus of heavy laughter from the hostile ships.

"You hear this? This mother _fucker_ thinks he's going to…" the voice was cut off mid-sentence, for Baxter had launched a missile. It scored a direct hit on the nose of the craft, causing it to burst into flame. The comms were silent.

"Hostile ships, you have been warned." Baxter called. "Team, break formation and attack hostiles at will!"

"Roger!" his team called back. The formation split up and went after a target. Baxter performed a roll to avoid a plasma bomb aimed at him. A small burst from the energy cannons took care of that pest. He dove to avoid a head on collision with another, then watched in satisfaction as that ship and the one that was tailing him crashed into each other. He pulled up and let loose with his energy cannons, blowing the wing off a craft that was zooming across his view from left to right. It spiraled into another, taking them both down.

"How're we doing Bravo?" he called.

"Eh, no competition…" Harrison muttered after looping around a bogey and sending him to his doom.

"Are you sure this isn't a training exercise sir?" Wyatt called gleefully. The young man released his AIM-11s and eliminated five targets at once.

Baxter chuckled. "Glad to hear you guys are having a good time." He said. Just then, a whole cluster of enemy fighters blew up, and a single ship flew out of the flames.

"Try to keep up, boys!" Grace taunted as she zoomed by…

…Katt let out a sigh of relief as the fighters began to turn tail and flee. The human ships put up a good fight, and it paid off. She turned to Blake and glared.

"You're lucky that your people arrived on time." She growled, putting her hands on her hips. Blake rolled his eyes.

"I knew they would come. Katt, I've been flying through this part of space for the past eight years, I know the boundaries and the shortcuts. We were never in any real danger." Blake retorted. Katt only sighed and slumped into the chair.

"You're impossible."

"Aren't I?" Blake said and got onto the comms. "Baxter, I need an immediate escort to Churchill Field."

"Roger that. Where's the rest of your team?" Baxter asked. A pang of guilt coursed through him and he starred at the floor.

"They're dead. I'll explain everything planet side. I've been cooped up in this ship for too long with this crazy alien cat."

"Repeat your last?"

"You heard me…"

… Thirty minutes later, Katt was staring out the viewport with awe. It was nothing but dense rainforests as far as the eye could see.

"What is this place?" she asked, not looking away. She heard Blake chuckle.

"It's New Britannia, a British controlled planet. It's mostly industrial, but there are a few small cities scattered all over. Ninety five percent of the planet is covered by rainforests. The rest is oceans." Blake explained.

"Incredible…" Katt whispered. She looked down and saw a massive air field. Human ships, ranging from cargo ships to sleek military fighters, sat lined in rows or in hangars. It steadily came up to meet them, and pretty soon they felt the prowler touch down. Katt watched as their escort had to deploy their landing gear and roll to a stop along the run way. Blake stood up and powered down the ship. They each grabbed their belongings, including the rifles, and stood ready by the door. They heard the sounds of vehicles and people milling about outside the ship. Katt involuntarily squeezed Blake's hand.

"Ready to do this?" he asked, just as nervous. How would they react at seeing Katt?

"Yes." Katt whispered. Blake reached forward and pressed a button. The door of the ship slowly began to open…

…Wolf O'Donnell sat, furious, in the dim fire light of his study. The figure in the arm chair across from him was just as angered.

"How could've they known?" Wolf growled silently to himself.

"As I've told you, O'Donnell, my people have always had long range scanners. It was not a question of _if_, but of _when_ they would intervene. As for why O'Brien escaped, _you_ should've gone out there yourself and tried to stop him." the figure growled. Wolf heard his robotic limbs tensing in frustration.

"And why didn't you? It's your personal vendetta. All I want is those weapons reclaimed before the link between our species is discovered."

"You know I cannot fly anymore." The man retorted. Wolf sighed and rubbed his temples.

"Should we call The Benefactor?"

"Yes, it's the only option at this point."

"Very well." Wolf sighed and dialed a number on the holographic communicator. It rang for a few seconds before someone on the other line answered. A large holographic image of a human appeared on the desk. Said human looked to be of Japanese descent, and was well over fifty. He wore an expensive Italian suit and an eye patch over his left eye.

"O'Donnell-kun, why do you trouble me with your presence?" the old man asked irritably in a raspy voice.

"Mr. Yamanaitsu, Blake O'Brien has escaped our clutches and is now in human custody." Wolf said. The old man growled.

"Why are you calling me about it? It is your incompetence which has brought defeat!" he snapped.

"We were hoping that you could do something about it. He has stolen three rifles from your last shipment." Wolf said and braced himself.

"…" Yamanaitsu remained silent for a few moments before erupting. "WHAT IS THIS? NOT ONLY DOES HE ESCAPE, BUT HE ESCAPES WITH EVIDENCE OF OUR CORRESPONDENCE! NOW WE WILL MOST LIKELY HAVE BOTH CORNERIAN AND HUMAN FORCES ON OUR ASSES!"

"I'm fully aware of that. What should we do?" Wolf asked. The old man sighed and rubbed his forehead.

"I will contact our man on the inside, he will take care of this." He muttered before hanging up.

Wolf sat back in his chair, lost in thought. The only sounds in the room was the whirring of the figure's own robotic lungs…

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	10. Temporary safety

The door opened, and the first sunlight in weeks beamed onto them. Katt's heart was beating in her chest, as was Blake's. Soon, they found themselves standing before an astonished crowd of human military personnel. A young African American Ensign jogged up to them. He glanced nervously at Katt, and swallowed hard.

"Captain O'Brien, your transport!" He said finally, snapping a crisp salute. Blake nodded and returned the gesture. The Ensign led them to a dark green Humvee at the back of the mob. He opened the door and motioned for them to enter. Blake climbed in first, followed by the Ensign. Katt's eyes darted around nervously before she entered too. The Ensign sat across from them, next to a Caucasian Admiral. At the sight of the man, Blake sat rigid and snapped a salute.

"Admiral Whiten!" he said.

"At ease, son." Whiten said. He looked at Katt, and raised an eyebrow. "And just who the hell are you?" he asked.

"Kathrin Monroe, sir." Katt squeaked nervously. She seemed to be on edge, gripping the seat with her claws. Blake noticed this out of the corner of his eye.

"Interesting… And I assume you are Cornerian, yes?" Whiten asked. Both Blake and Katt's eyes lit up in surprise.

"You… you know about us?" Katt asked. Whiten nodded. "But… how?"

"About fifty years ago we sent a long range recon drone into your galaxy. We were pretty shocked when we found a planet full of walking, talking animals!" Whiten said. Katt's eye twitched at the term _animal_.

"But sir," Blake said. "How come our species are unaware of each other, then?"

"Because we no reason to become involved in the doings of another race. You see, we were still thinking about how our first contact was going to go down. They could respond violently, or peacefully. We couldn't take the risk of an inter-galactic war, so we just stayed out of the way, but kept in mind that they were out there." Whiten explained. "And as for why we didn't ever tell anybody, how would you react if you were told that aliens exist?"

Blake nodded. "I understand."

"Good, now Captain, why don't you tell me why we had to save you from an army of fighters?" Whiten asked, placing a recording system in between them. Blake cleared his throat and began to speak.

"My patrol and I had just docked with _Hermosa_, right on schedule, when we passed the same lone gas giant that we always passed. My second in command, Corporal Taylor, asked if we could venture past the gas giant and explore beyond…"

Thirty minutes later, the three of them were gathered in the Admiral's study.

"…And that's about when Bravo Patrol showed up." Blake finished. The Admiral looked at him with a blank face. With a shaky hand, he reached up and slowly took of his glasses.

"Your team, you say that they're dead?" he asked in a solemn voice.

"Yes sir."

"And I recall you saying something about an engagement with Cornerian forces? And being captured? AND escaping with a hostage?"

"Ye-"Blake started to say, but was cut off as Whiten slammed his fist on the desk.

"GOD DAMN IT! DO YOU REALIZE, THAT BY YOUR ACTIONS, THE CORNERIANS VIEW US AS HOSTILE?"

"Ye-"

"Don't bother answering." Admiral Whiten snapped. "You came _this close_ to starting a war! And now you have TWO WHOLE ARMIES after your ass!"

"SIR," Blake said loudly, causing Whiten to go silent. "I was doing what was necessary to protect my team. The Cornerians fired first-"

"DO NOT FUCK WITH ME, O'BRIEN! I know perfectly well how it all happened. Your stubbornness caused you to return fire in a harmless situation, which lit the spark in the powder keg!" Admiral Whiten shouted, standing up from his seat. "Damn boy, you just cannot take a hit, can you?"

Blake growled in his throat. He couldn't say anymore, lest he be court marshaled. Luckily, Katt came to his rescue.

"Sir, with all due respect, our race reacted pretty outlandish when Blake let off that little pot shot. Have you ever heard the phrase, _an eye for an eye_? That's what happened. Fox clipped Blake's ship, Blake did the same. Fox ordered his team to engage, and Blake was forced to do the same. It was a truly unavoidable situation." She explained. Whiten glared at her.

"And what is your deal? Why are you here?" he asked irritably.

"I am Katt Monroe, the hostage Blake took."

"And why the hell are you so eager to help him?"

"Because my people think that I helped him escape. The humans are my only chance at clearing my name, so I'm tagging along." She replied, crossing her arms.

"So they're after you too?"

"Yes." Katt said. Admiral Whiten sighed and rubbed his temples.

"So, if we help you, we risk being accused of harboring fugitives? WELL ISN'T THAT JUST DANDY!" he shouted. Katt stood perfectly un- fazed by the outburst.

"No, you just have to explain the truth to my people, and peace will be achieved."

"What if it isn't?"

"Tough."

"Why you little!" Whiten growled, but sighed and calmed down. "Get out. Ensign Jackson will escort you to your quarters."

"Yes sir." Blake said. The Ensign from earlier came back in and led them to a small room with two bunks set up and a nightstand. "Home sweet home."

Katt tossed her duffel down on the bottom bunk. "That went better than expected…"

"I know. Thanks for backing me up there."

"Don't mention it. This makes us even."

"I don't see how saving your life compares to helping me in an argument," Blake chuckled. "But if you say so…" he immediately had to duck as a pillow went soaring over his head.

"Oh shut up." Katt growled with a grin on her face. Her stomach growled. "Oh, we kind of missed breakfast this morning." She said sheepishly.

Blake laughed. "Come on then. I don't suppose you've ever tried fettuccini?"

"I'm afraid I haven't…" Katt muttered. Blake gestured to the door and they both stepped out. As they walked, people gave them (mostly Katt) looks of shock. A private carrying some documents accidently ran into a pillar at one point because his eyes were fixed on Katt. "Why are all these people starring at us?"

"Do you see any other five foot tall, walking cats?" Blake whispered.

"Point taken." Katt replied. "So where are we going?"

"The mess hall."

"Ah…" Katt muttered. They rounded a corner into a large, but mostly empty room lines with tables. It looked like a grade school cafeteria, only with mostly gray colors. Katt smelt something delicious cooking. To be fair, it _was_ army food, so it probably wasn't good. But she was hungry.

"This way." Blake muttered, walking to one of the serving lines. Katt hesitated and followed, bracing herself for a lot of unwanted attention. Luckily there were only about four other people in the room. She and Blake walked through the narrow door way and into a small kitchen. Blake whistled to a muscular Caucasian stirring the contents of a large pot. The man wore standard camouflage fatigues, and had his hair cut short. At the whistle, the man turned around slowly, and his eyes went wide.

"Blake O'Brien? Where the FUCK you been you bastard?" the man called, hopping over the counter and giving him a crushing bear hug.

"How're you Blansky?" Blake asked, letting go of the massive man.

"Pretty good. But last time I heard of you, you got your ass blown out of the sky!" Blansky laughed. Blake laughed.

"Trust me; if I told you the truth you wouldn't believe me."

Blansky eyed Katt curiously. "I'm sure I wouldn't… Now anyways, how about some grub?"

"Have you improved your cooking skills since Ra?"

"Fuuuuuuck youuuuuuuuu, O'Brien. Fuck you."

"Same old Blansky…"

…Katt loved this stuff, whatever it was. Blake had called it: chicken noodle soup, and it was AMAZING! Already she was on her second bowl. Blake finished telling Blansky about his adventure, and the latter shot her a strange look.

"I knew she couldn't have been from around here? You say that there's a whole planet of them we didn't even know about?"

"Yes. We were shocked ourselves…" Blake muttered, starring at the ground. Blansky's eyes widened.

"NO! You don't mean… Dmitri?" he asked in an urgent tone. Blake looked at him with a solemn expression. Blansky broke down. "Aw fuck, I loved that guy!"

"I know…" Blake said. Katt glared at him. "Anyways, this is Katt."

Blansky looked up. "CAT huh? How original."

"As in KATHRINE, thank you." Katt said irritably. Blansky chuckled.

"She's kinda got a temper."

"Two weeks stuck together in a prowler can tell you that." Blake muttered.

"NO WAY!"

"Yep."

"HOLY SHIT! DID YOU TWO-"

"NO!" Blake and Katt shouted at the same time, causing everyone else in the mess hall to look over in there direction. They both blushed deeply and glared at Blansky.

"Are you sure? A man, and a woman, in a prowler… alone…"

"Shut up." They said again. Blansky only laughed.

"I'm just messing! You two are getting pretty defensive!" he said, making their blushes grow deeper. "It's been nice seeing you, O'Brien, but I have work to do!"

When Blansky left, Katt leaned over. "Is he always like this?" she whispered.

"Yep."

"Huh…" Katt mumbled. She thought over what Blansky had said. Now she was curious herself. What if she WAS in a relationship with Blake? What would that be like? She mentally sighed.

'_Stupid girl, you must be getting desperate to consider dating an alien. But it's been so long…'_ she thought. She came to the conclusion. Maybe, just maybe, she would consider it. But for now, they needed to get out of this mess first…

**Read and review! Do you think I should've made the humans a little more surprised? IDK this is the first time I've really done a non-violent first meeting… review and get free HUGZ! (^w^)**


	11. Arguing with myself and losing

**.AN: Did you like your hugs? *GASP* YOU DID? Well then, I feel accomplished.**

**PS- GuyIntheBackground, **_**I know where you live :). U scared bro? :) I'm gonna find you!**_

_**JOKING! Anyways, let's get to the story…**_

(Two days ago…)

"O'Brien, I've contacted the UN. They've approved your case. Your ship leaves in two days' time." Admiral Whiten said, holding out his hand. Blake nodded and shook it. He turned and faced Katt.

"One step closer to clearing our names…"

(One day ago…)

"What the hell?" Blake wondered aloud, waking up in the middle of the night to a frightened Katt clinging desperately to him in his bunk.

New Britannia, being a rain forest planet, obviously had a lot of rain. However, the storms on this planet happened to be a tad bit more severe than on others. It's no surprise that since it was Katt's first storm on this planet, that she would become a little startled.

"Katt, get in your own bed." He said in the darkness. But no reply ever came. Blake stayed still and felt steady; warm breathes washing over his neck, signifying that the feline was in Dreamsville. Blake sighed in defeat, knowing there was no use trying to free him-self from her death grip. He lied back on the pillow, with a sleeping alien cat cuddled against him. Who would've thought that the same person who was willing to follow along on a suicide mission… was also afraid of lightning?

Unbeknownst to him, Katt was awake that whole time, smirking all the while…

(Present day, 1300 hours Earth Standard Time, outskirts of Abel system, UNAF frigate: _Armageddon_…)

… Blake and Katt decided for the better to just forget about the incident two nights ago. They were aboard a UN frigate headed to the mother system. It was about a month long journey, considering that a frigate couldn't move as fast as a fighter. Katt wasn't exactly keen on showing herself around the rest of the crew, so they spent most of their time in their cabin.

So there they were, locked in a fierce battle to the death. Blake's eyes narrowed and he made his move before Katt could see it coming.

"Checkmate…" He muttered, moving his rook to a direct line to her king. Katt growled in her throat and rubbed her chin. Finally, after a few minutes, she slid one of her bishops to the rook, eliminating the threat and placing the piece in the dead pile. Sadly, Blake had foreseen the move, and therefor placed his queen in a position where it could move in. He slid the piece directly in front of the king. Katt laughed.

"Nice one, now gimme that queen." She said and moved her king forward, taking out the queen. "Queen gone, nothing left but a rook and a few pawns to defend the king. Looks like I'm finally going to win." She gloated. Blake didn't even flinch.

"War demands sacrifice." He muttered. That's when Katt realized her mistake. When she moved her king forward, she placed it right in the path of a pawn. Her right eye twitched with frustration as Blake moved the piece forward and shoved the king off the board. "Check."

Katt snarled and swatted the board with her paw, causing it to fly off the table, and scattering the pieces all over the room. She stormed over to her bed and slid in, her arms crossed. Blake sighed and turned off the holographic projector. The board, along with all of the pieces, disappeared. Blake quietly chuckled and strolled over to the edge of her bed.

"Go away." She pouted like a child. Blake would've taken a picture if he had a camera with him.

"What's wrong, kitten?"

"Don't call me that."

"What's wrong?"

"You beat me at chess three times in a row."

"And so you react by curling up in your bed and crying about it?"

"Pretty much, yep."

"Hmm…" Blake muttered, slowly pacing the room with his hands behind his back. An idea sparked in his head and he grinned. He walked over to his bag and pulled out a sock. Next, he found a length of string and tied it around the end of the sock. Katt watched him, her bottom lip puffed out. Blake walked over to one end of the room and tossed the sock onto the foot of her bed. He gently jerked the string, causing the sock to twitch.

"Blake, don't you dare!" Katt warned, her frown growing deeper. Unfortunately, she was losing the battle, and her eyes were fixated on the sock.

'_Resist… urge… to pounce… sock!'_ she repeated in her mind. Finally, her instincts won. With a small meow, she dove for the sock. Blake gave the string a little tug, causing it to jump out of the way at the last second. Katt landed gracefully at the foot of the bed and prepared to strike again. She chased the sock all the way around the room. When Blake had enough, he simply pulled the sock back into his hands. Unfortunately, Katt hadn't had enough. Regardless of where it was, she dove for the sock once more. Blake looked up just in time to get a face full of pink fur as Katt tackled him backwards to the ground.

"MMM!" Katt tried to yell something at him, but found that she couldn't, for her lips seemed to be connected to something. Said thing was warm and soft, and fit her lips perfectly. Finally, the message got through to both of them, and all hell broke loose.

"AAAAAH!" they screamed at the same time and jumped away from each other. Blake backed up against the door, and Katt sat on her bed.

"YOU KISSED ME!" they shouted at the same time.

"I KISSED YOU?" they shouted again, pointing to themselves.

"YEAH, YOU DID!" they shouted once more.

"IF YOU WOULDN'T HAVE DONE THAT STUPID SOCK TRICK, IT WOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED!" Katt shouted.

"IF YOU HADN'T CHASED AFTER THE DAMN THING, IT WOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED!"

"OH DON'T YOU BLAME ME!"

"I WILL BLAME YOU!" Blake roared. They stood absolutely still, glaring at each other. With an exasperated sigh, Blake turned on his heel and stormed out the door.

"OH, OF COURSE, RUN THE FUCK AWAY!" Katt shouted after him and folded her arms…

"… Crazy bitch… Fucking pins me to the ground and kisses me…" Blake grumbled as he walked down the hall. His destination, the officers' lounge. That was the good thing about being a Captain; you got all the good stuff. The lounge was an ornate room with oak paneling and a full stocked bar. It featured a large TV, pool table, and dart board, as well as leather furniture.

Blake walked in, and found the room empty except for a few other men. He gave them a curt nod and walked behind the bar. Right now he needed something to wash away the memories, as well as the taste of that filthy _alien_. He had just the thing, too: an Irish Car Bomb.

As he prepared the drink, his subconscious began fighting against his head like it always did. His head was usually too stubborn to give in, and would always conflict with it.

**_Face it, you liked it._**

'_No, I didn't. That was one of the worst things to ever happen to me.'_

**_You're lying._**

'_NO, I am not lying. She's an alien, for Christ's sake!'_

**_So?_**

'_SO, she probably has a bunch of weird diseases on her or something like that.'_

**_I know you too well. That's not why you're against it._**

'_She's a fucking CAT! DO YOU HEAR ME? A C-A-T!'_

**_No shit, Sherlock! Did you figure that out all by yourself?_**

'_Let me finish. I'm a HUMAN. She's a CAT! Do you NOT see the difference?'_

**_I do, I just thought it never really mattered. Don't you remember Taylor and Annette?_**

'_. Don't you EVER bring them into this. They were both humans, and both were the same race. The only difference is that they were of different nationality. This is different. This is like me fucking Steve!'_

**_Steve is a domestic house cat. And he is male. This would be nothing like that, you sick bastard. She's humanoid in appearance. The only things you have in the way are the ears, tail, and fur. And if I know you well enough, you seem to get quite a turn on from looking at furry-_**

'_DON'T YOU DARE FINISH THAT SENTENCE! Why are you here anyways?'_

**_To stop you from possibly making one of the biggest mistakes of your life._**

'_What mistake?'_

**_Look at her. She's beautiful, young, and knows how to kick arse! Don't tell me you've never thought about a night with her._**

'_Damn, I'll give you that. But I would probably be extremely drunk or desperate.'_

**_BULL-FUCKING-SHIT! You never quit, do you? You know, I think it's because you're afraid._**

'_What could I possibly be scared of?'_

**_Commitment._**

'_Don't try that shit with me. I'm scared of nothing.'_

**_And don't YOU try that shit with me. You're not the most social person. It's no surprise you'd be unwilling to enter what would be your first relationship._**

'_It's not my fault that I was raised in the highlands. There were only about three people every two miles out there. I was home schooled for God's sake!'_

**_So you don't deny that you're not social, and have never had a girlfriend?_**

'_I'm not anti-social, I just prefer my privacy. And women are a waste of time.'_

**_OH SCREW THIS! IT'S NO USE! YOU ARE THE MOST STUBBORN MOTHER FUCKER IN THE UNIVERSE, DO YOU KNOW THAT?_**

Blake's subconscious stopped pestering him, and he snapped out of his trance. He found that he had left the cream in the whiskey too long, and it had curdled. He sighed, no use wasting a good pint of Guinness. He raised the shot glass with the whiskey and cream, and then dropped the whole thing into the large glass. He lifted the glass to his lips and chugged the contents in the traditional fashion. He downed to concoction in less than five seconds and slammed the glass on the counter. The empty shot glass rattled around in the glass. He felt the cream stick in his throat, and he had to swallow extra hard to wash it down. He slumped in his bar stool and placed his head in his hands…

… Katt sighed and store up at the ceiling. For confirmation she touched her lips, and the memories came back to haunt her.

"Bastard… I hate you…" she grumbled under her breath. And she meant it, too. The next time she saw him, she was going to tear his throat out! Because of him, her friends now saw her as an enemy, her government wanted her dead, and now she was at the mercy of the humans. "Could my life get any worse?"

"Yes, it could." A sinister voice whispered. Before Katt knew it, a cloth soaked in chloroform was pressed to her nose and she was out like a light. The man picked up an interstellar phone and dialed a number.

"Mr. Yamanaitsu, it's done."

"Good. Grab the weapons and the girl, then get out of there without being seen."

"Yes sir." The man said. The line went dead. He hurriedly slung the duffel with the M16s on his back and a hauled Katt over his shoulders. He made sure the coast was clear before skirting into the hallway and to the hangar, where he boarded a small ship and took off…

… Yamanaitsu watched with a dark grin through the view screen as the small ship separated from the frigate. He chuckled and pressed a button on his ship's intercom.

"All ships, we have the package. Commence the assault. Leave no survivors…"

**Read and Review!**


	12. Convicts and anthro's first!

**AN: I would like to thank Major Simi and Guy in the Background for reviewing. As for the rest of you…**

**Y U NO REVIEW? (T^T)**

"What's this?" Yamanaitsu exclaimed as he watched his ships engage the _Armageddon_. A Cornerian carrier had suddenly appeared out of nowhere and launched its own fighters, as well as boarding craft! They were here for Katt and Blake! If they got a hold of him, he could spill the beans on their whole operation! Thankfully, Katt was now in his custody. He lied back in his chair and sighed. Hopefully his men would kill the human before the Cornerians could capture him. All he could do was wait.

"Why O'Brien? Why couldn't have you followed in your old man's footsteps, instead of joining with the government pigs?" he mumbled…

(...)

… Blake was jolted out of his day dream when alarms began to go off all over the ship.

"Crew, large enemy forces inbound. Report to battle stations immediately. This is not a drill!" the captain's voice boomed urgently over the intercom. Blake coughed up a mouthful of scotch.

'_Katt!_' he screamed in his mind. He hopped off his stool and double timed it out of the officers' lounge, heading to their quarters. When he arrived, he was winded. He flung the door open and drew his standard issue side arm. He raised the weapon and stormed into the room, scanning for hostiles. There were none, but Katt was missing too! Blake searched the room frantically for her, but she was nowhere to be found! Even her bag was missing! Luckily, his was still there. He slung it over his back and readied his side arm. He was ready.

"She must've run when the alarms went off." He reasoned and headed out the door. Suddenly, the ship rocked violently.

"Crew, enemy boarding parties have breached the exterior walls! Repel them!" the captain ordered. Blake cursed in Celtic before jogging down the corridor. The sounds of gun and blaster fire became audible. Blake rounded a corner and found a hellish scene awaiting him. There were three groups fighting in the large hall: Humans, Cornerians, and a rag-tag group that was made of both races.

"THERE IT IS!" a Cornerian soldier shouted, pointing at him. That's when the message came through. Blake had to dive behind a makeshift barricade as blaster bolts and bullets alike flew at him. He found himself next to a young Caucasian Sergeant in a Marines uniform.

"Captain O'Brien, what the hell are these things?" he shouted over the sounds of battle.

"There's no time to explain! Kill them all!" Blake shouted back and poked his head out from cover. He took careful aim and dropped a human pirate with a short three round burst before ducking back in. He felt bullets slam into the barricade and tucked his head lower. He popped back up.

**BLAM! BLAM!** One more Cornerian dropped. The sergeant tapped his shoulder.

"Captain, this way!" he shouted and led him to a maintenance corridor. Blake took the opportunity to slam a fresh clip into his pistol. As they ran down the corridor, the Sergeant filled him in on the situation.

"What's your name, son?" Blake asked.

"Sgt. Henry McCabe, sir!"

"Well Sgt. McCabe, what the hell's going on?"

"Two armies are attacking at once! Apparently, they all want you dead!"

"Brilliant…"

"What the hell were those animal things?" McCabe asked.

"They're called Cornerians, and they're what took out my whole team when we were presumed KIA. They took me prisoner, but I escaped."

"Wow, sounds like an adventure."

Blake chuckled. "You have no idea. So what's the sit rep?"

"We're engaged in heavy fighting in the hangars, trying to repel their drop ships. They've also breached our hull in various locations with boarding craft, so there are minor skirmishes there. But the main battle is in the hangar."

"So we can't really hop in a ship and take off?"

"Not unless your bullet proof!"

"I thought so, so what are our other options?"

"We really have none, besides just killing them all. The captain hasn't given us the green light for abandon ship, so it looks like we're still in good shape." McCabe explained. But no sooner had he said that, had the captain's voice rang out over the intercom once more:

"All personal, abandon ship! I repeat, abandon ship! We are being overrun! Initiating self-destruct sequence in one hour!" the old man yelled. Blake and McCabe looked at each other. This couldn't be good…

(...)

"…All personal, abandon ship! I repeat, abandon ship! We are being overrun! Initiating self-destruct sequence in one hour!" Captain Jacob Fisher called into the intercom. The sixty three year old man sat heavily in his chair. The sounds of gun fire grew steadily louder, and he sighed. It was a shame; he would never see his daughter again.

His head perked up when he heard a loud explosion behind him. He sighed and drew his pistol, kicking over a table and taking up a position behind it. A team of pirates stormed into the room. Fisher took careful aim and sprayed the mob with bullets. Two dropped dead, three limped away. Unfortunately, they had a whole army behind them, and Fisher didn't even have time to yell as he was cut down by machine gun and blaster fire…

(...)

"… We have to get on those damn life boats! We have to hurry!" McCabe shouted. Bullets and blaster bolts alike whizzed past them from behind. Blake blind fired while running and heard a scream of pain. He could see life boats rocketing to the surface of San Louise, a nearby planet, outside the view ports.

"GO!" he shouted and dragged McCabe into a life boat, sealing the doors shut. Inside the boat were him, McCabe, the pilot, and about four other people. Blake strapped himself in next to McCabe and nodded to the pilot. The life boat disengaged from the ship and followed its comrades. Blake had to struggle to breathe from the intense G's.

"Heads up, entering the atmosphere in five!" the pilot informed from her seat. Blake clenched his eyes shut and gripped the edges of his seat. The life boat began to glow orange from the heat of reentry, and everyone's teeth were rattling in their skulls. Blake clinched his eyes shut and prepared for the worst.

If he could survive one crash landing, perhaps he could go through another…?

(...)

… Yamanaitsu watched with a scowl as life boats zoomed away from the doomed frigate. He picked up his phone and dialed another number.

"Corporal, have you found O'Brien yet?" he asked. There was static for a few moments before one of his best men's voice replied.

"No sir! We've already done a thorough sweep of the ship and mopped up the rest of the Cornerian Defense Force. He's nowhere to be found. A man reported seeing him board one of the life boats."

"Then what the hell are you still doing on board that ship! Get your ass down planet side and find him before the CDF sends reinforcements!"

"Right away sir!" the Corporal responded before hanging up. Yamanaitsu growled and slammed his fist down on his desk. He scowled at the picture on the wall, depicting him and another man standing on the bridge of a captured cargo ship. Said man happened to look exactly like Blake, only with brown eyes, and unkempt hair.

"Look at your son, Red. A slave to the government pig dogs, with no knowledge of his heritage…" Yamanaitsu muttered, reaching out to touch the glass. "But you _had _to keep it a secret from him, and now he will die for it…"

(...)

"…THE EMERGENCY THRUSTERS HAVE FAILED! BRACE FOR IMPACT!" the pilot shouted as the life boat descended into the forests below. Blake heard people muttering silent prayers under their breath. Blake chuckled wryly to himself. He knew there was some sort of god watching over him. How else could've he gotten this far? He simply grinned and said a prayer to all of them, then gripped his chair even tighter.

The life boat screamed into the ground, dipping below the tree line of the thick forest and skidding along the ground. It slid for about five hundred yards, leaving a flaming trench behind it and leaving the area barren of trees. It finally came to rest next to a flowing river in a mountainous region somewhere on San Louis…

… The initial impact had knocked him unconscious. Blake awoke thirty minutes later with various new injuries all over his body and an excruciating headache. He fumbled with the restraints and freed himself. He had to grab a hand hold to help himself up. He took a moment to survey his surroundings.

"McCabe?" he whispered. Nothing. He gently shook the young man's shoulder and checked his pulse. McCabe was dead as a door nail, along with everyone else on the life boat. Blake looked up to the sky.

"Probably should've prayed for them too…" he muttered. Suddenly, he heard the roaring of an engine! He ran outside the life boat and looked skyward. He froze in shock at what awaited him. Two Arwings slowly glided downwards towards the crash site. It was Star Fox! Blake ran back inside the life boat and searched desperately for a hiding spot. He pulled off a combat helmet from one of his fallen comrades and thumped back down in his seat. He heard the Arwings touch down, and he forced himself to play dead…

(...)

… Fox hopped out of his Arwing, and was instantly met with the putrid stench of burning matter. He shouldered his assault rifle and crept towards the wreckage. He heard Slippy jump out behind him.

"Be careful, Fox." He said. Fox nodded and peered into the life boat, sweeping the interior with his rifle.

"Slippy, in here." He ordered.

"Uh, no thanks Fox, you look like you have it under control." Slippy chuckled nervously, not wanting to see the carnage. Fox rolled his eyes and walked in. He nearly gagged at the smell of decay. He went down the row of seats, checking for Blake. On the last seat, there was a peculiar looking human in a pilot's uniform and a Marine's combat helmet. Fox tilted back the man's head and inspected his face. He looked strangely familiar…

(...)

…Blake had to force himself extra hard not to move when he felt Fox's claws grip his chin. He let him tilt his head back to look at him. Through squinted eyes, he looked directly into Fox's as the vulpine checked him over.

'_Come on you bastard, go away!'_ he pleaded in his head. Finally, after about five minutes, Fox let go of Blake's chin and turned to leave.

"He's not here, Slip. Let's go check another one." He called. Blake heard the Arwings take off and waited fifty seconds. Slowly, he stood back up and peeked outside. The coast was clear. He took advantage of his time to take stock of his body. He had a slight pain in his right leg and forearm, and several smaller injuries. Luckily, nothing severe.

"Now, time to find Katt…" he muttered and picked up his bag. He looked at his pistol. If he ran into trouble, it wouldn't be much help. Luckily, each life boat carried a 12 gauge shotgun in a hidden compartment. Blake walked up to the pilot's seat and pressed a button on the dash. A section of paneling popped out of the wall, revealing a shelf with the shotgun and a box of ammo. Blake let out a low whistle and grabbed the shotgun, a standard pump action with synthetic pistol grip and folding stock. Next he grabbed the box of ammo, containing twenty four shots. He loaded the shotgun with eight shells and stuffed the rest into pockets all over his flight suit. His trusty duffel went onto his back like usual, and he set off into the forest…

(...)

…Blake had been walking for a while now, with absolutely no activity. He'd taken several stops to rest or for a drink of water. This was odd. Shouldn't there be multiple teams of men searching for him?

As if on cue, he heard rustling. He instinctively dropped to the ground into the foliage and waited. Several seconds went by before a group of five men, both Cornerian and human, slowly walked into view from behind the trees in deep conversation. Blake instantly recognized them as pirates. They wore no uniforms, no insignia, and carried assault rifles, obviously black market items. As they passed, Blake heard their conversation.

"Why exactly are we out here again?"

"To chase down that damn human. O'Brien or something like that."

"Where's the cat?"

"Her? We already have her. She's on board the _Great Dragon_."

"So we just have to nab one guy, huh? Should be easy enough."

"I don't think so. I hear he single handedly escaped from a Cornerian maximum security unit."

"Oh, what a load of bull shit."

"We'll just have to see for ourselves, won't we…?" an Asian man mumbled as they walked. Blake's eyes widened.

'_They have Katt! But where on the Great Dragon, I wonder? What IS the Great Dragon, anyways?'_ Blake thought. He sighed. It wasn't much, but it was something. He waited 'til the men were out of earshot before hopping up and moving in the direction they came from. They obviously came here on a ship of some sort, and that would be his ride out of here. The trees began to thin out as he moved forward, and sure enough, there was a clearing just up ahead. Blake ducked behind a tree and poked his head out just enough for a view.

In the clearing was single Cornerian drop ship, obviously stolen, and guarded by a single man. Blake reasoned that they hadn't anticipated him to get this far. How mistaken they were. Blake pumped the shotgun and crept up behind the lone man.

"Oi, Suzy!" he hissed. The man spun around and was met with a down barrel view of a shotgun shell. He stayed absolutely still. Blake motioned for him to drop his weapon and he did. Blake smiled and bashed him across the face. "Where is she?"

"AH! I don't know who the fuck you're talking about!" the man cried, cradling his head. Blood began to trickle from his nose. Blake growled and shoved him into the hull of the drop ship.

"Don't fuck with me. The cat, where is she?" he asked.

"Her? I'm not telling-"

_***SMACK!***_ Blake swung the butt of his gun around again. The guard fell to the ground with a scream of pain.

"Where?"

"On board the _Great Dragon_!"

"What's the _Great Dragon_?"

"Yamanaitsu's flag ship!" he grunted. Blake stiffened. Did he mean the famous smuggler and raider Yamanaitsu? He had to be.

"Where on board is she?"

"!"

_***SMACK!***_

"In the brig! That's all I know, I swear!" the pirate cried. Blake growled.

"Then you aren't any use to me any more…"

"Wait, what are you doing? NO PLEASE!"

_***BOOM!***_ the pirate's head exploded in a mess of red and black goo. Blake pumped the shotgun, causing the empty shell casing to fly out. He glanced down at the pirate's gun. It was a PKP Pecheneg MK VI, a massive support weapon with a two hundred round box magazine. Blake grinned and picked up the gun. It would serve him well.

No doubt that the guard's friends had heard the shot, so he wasted no time in climbing into the drop ship and starting her up. He closed the rear ramp and took off to his next destination: The _Great Dragon_...

(...)

…Once in space, Blake powered down the drop ship and looked out his view port. The _Armageddon _sat still in space, with enemy ship still buzzing around it. A massive Cornerian carrier sat farther off. That's when Blake saw it. It was a massive Class X cargo ship. Class X ships were meant for _really_ long distances, and were extremely large. They were eight miles in length, and a mile across. Out of all the habitable planets, only two actually had functional docks for such craft. Other than that, they stayed in space. This particular Class X looked to have makeshift cannons mounted on every side.

"It would make a great base, it makes sense." Blake reasoned and eased his ship towards the hulk. On each side, near the bottom, were two massive hangars. Blake saw mounted anti-ship guns guarding the entrances, so that was out of the question.

"Actually, maybe it isn't…" Blake muttered. He climbed out of the pilot's chair and headed into the troop bay in the back of the drop ship. On a hook towards the front was a human made EVS, or "Emergency Vacuum Suit". It was really bulky, and closely resembled the things astronauts of old used to wear to the moon. The only difference with these was that these were proven to be bullet proof…

**AN: Now, we're going to try this again. READ AN REVIEW! OR I KEEL YOU! =) **


	13. Rescue

**AN: I love reviews. They're fun to read (except for flames), and they give me a drive to write. Whether you think it or not, I actually read every single review that you guys throw at me. If need be, I respond to them. So please, do take the ten second or less required to leave me "Good job" or "Great work" at the least. I'm also open to constructive criticism.**

The air was still and warm inside the small drop ship. Fighter activity had increased around the _Great Dragon_, no doubt because of the disappearance of said craft. Blake watched through the view screen with his breath caught in his throat, as if the slightest noise would give away his position. The chair felt awkward inside his bulky EVS, as it was easily too large for the damned thing.

In his head, Blake picked apart his plan piece by piece, checking for unseen errors. And it _wasn't_ going well…

**I'm telling you, it's never going to work! You might as well forget her and get your ass back to Earth. That was the whole point of escaping, wasn't it?**

'_Yes, but we're in this together, and I'm not leaving her behind after all she's done for me.'_

**There's no way you're going to be able to get on there without anyone seeing you!**

'_I know. I never planned to use stealth.'_

**YOU'RE GOING TO GET TORN APART!**

'_Not if the first part of the plan goes as expected.'_

**YOU'RE INSANE, DO YOU KNOW THAT? THERE'S SO MANY OF THEM! What are you going to do once you're in, huh? Just automatically know where they're holding her? The damned thing is EIGHT MILES LONG!**

'_There's always a way, now stop trying to convince me otherwise.'_

**I'm going by what I said earlier: You are the most stubborn son of a bitch in existence.**

Blake rolled his eyes as his self- conscious stopped bugging him. This plan would work; it had to, lest Katt be surely killed…

And he was not going to let that happen to her…

(…)

"Ugh, my head…" Katt groaned as she sat up. Her eyes shot open, and she instantly regretted it as she was nearly blinded by bright fluorescent lighting. She waited a few seconds, muttering preferred curses under her breath, before slowly opening them again.

She was in a cell of some sort, the large force field making it all too obvious. The cell had no windows as far as she was concerned. It was stark and sterile, as if this was its first use. It was barren save for a small cot.

"Good morning, Miss Monroe." A crisp, aged voice sounded from behind. Katt nearly jumped out of her skin and slowly turned to face the speaker. It was an old man who appeared to be of Asian descent. He wore an expensive suit and a plain black eye patch over his left eye. His hair was cut short and plain, and was white from age.

"Who… Who are you?" She asked with a hint of terror evident in her voice. The man simply checked his watch.

"I am Tsuyoi Kokoro Yamanaitsu, but you _will_ call me _sir_. Is that understood?" The man replied briskly, glaring holes through her through his one grey eye. Katt cringed under his gaze and didn't reply.

_**ZAP!**_

"Yes, sir!" Katt yelped after having a cattle prod thrusted into her back.

"Good, now tell me: Where is Blake O'Brien?"

"I don't know."

_**ZAP!**_

"ARGH!"

"Please, I have no time for such foolishness. Where?"

"I'm telling you, I don't know!"

_**ZAP!**_

"AAAAAAH!"

"Tell me where, and this will all end…"

(…)

"Peppy, there's no sign of the human anywhere. We think he may have been mopped up by the pirates, or he's still on board the human ship." said Fox into his ship's communicator as he zoomed back to the Cornerian carrier that was their temporary residence. The old hare looked back at him with a frown.

"Don't worry Fox. We've just intercepted a transmition from the pirates. The human's alive, and heavily armed from the sound of it. He apparently stole a drop ship, and is en route to the human cargo ship." said Peppy. Fox sighed.

"So much for an easy job…"

"This is Star Fox, son, no job is easy for us…"

(…)

…He waited…

And waited…

And waited…

Finally, the massive swarm of fighters passed, paying no mind to the tiny drop ship. Blake took his opportunity and lined himself up with the front hangar bay of the _Great Dragon_. He chuckled wryly.

"Here goes nothing." He mumbled before pushing the throttle balls to the wall. The drop ship began to glide forward, picking up more and more speed with each passing second. Other ships began to notice, and let loose with their guns. The drop ship was far too fast for their aim, and only took minimal damage. Blake waited until he was three miles and closing before lowering the power and turning the ship in a full 180 turn. The drop ship now raced for the hanger in reverse, the momentum from the weightless environment keeping it on course. Blake quickly hopped up from the pilot's chair and ran into the troop bay. He tightened the seal on his EVS and picked up the PKP MK. VI. The shotgun was slung onto his back, just in case. He was ready…

(…)

"How many times, I don't know where Blake is." Katt cried, tears streaming down her cheeks. Yamanaitsu growled and threw down his cattle prod.

"I can tell you are not lying, for no one could possibly withstand such torture. Very well, we will leave it here today, but make no mistake, I'll be back soon." The elder man growled and left. Katt curled up in a ball and began to sob.

'_Oh God, Blake, where are you?'_ she thought.

**Pfft, he probably did the first thing that came to mind and ditched you.** Her sub conscious growled.

'_B-but, he wouldn't!'_

**Oh yes he would! Now that he's back with his people, all that shit you two went through is a thing of the past. You're all alone!** It yelled back. Katt clenched her eyes.

'_Y-you're right! That slimy bastard is probably in a life boat somewhere, drinking champagne and having a grand old time while I rot in this hell hole!'_ Katt thought angrily, agreeing with her sub conscious.

**Yes, and besides, what good has ever come from any of this? He took you prisoner, killed hundreds of good men, framed you, and left you to die.**

'_Yes, he did, didn't he? ARGH, I KNEW I SHOULD'VE NEVER TRUSTED HIM!'_ Katt screamed in her mind. Her tears flowed more freely, and she felt blinding hatred towards the human. She'd known it from the start that he'd just leave her for dead at the first opportunity in order to save his own skin…

(…)

At one mile and closing, Blake popped the rear hatch. The massive rear door slowly folded downwards, exposing him to the vacuum. Luckily, he was safely secured inside his EVS. He shouldered the PKP and steeled himself for the hard landing. The drop ship, still in reverse, flew through the force fields covering the hangar entrances and hit the deck. The ship rocked violently before skidding along the floor.

That's when Blake let them have it. While the ship skidded forward, Blake let loose with the PKP. Whatever or whoever didn't get cut down by machine gun fire was crushed by the speeding ship. Somewhere along the ride, a stray bullet caught a fuel tank, sending it up in a massive fireball. The ship began to slow, and Blake hopped out.

"SHOOT HIM!" someone yelled. Bullets and blaster bolts alike began to zoom at him. A few pinged harmlessly off the suit, the others went wide. Blake lumbered forward.

**BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!** A Cornerian was dropped by the PKP. Blake continued walking towards a maintenance hatch off the side, never stopping. A single plasma bolt washed across the chest plate of the suit, melting it, yet causing no damage to Blake himself. Blake whirled around to face the lone human and finished him with a burst to the chest. Blake took careful aim at another fuel tank.

**KABOOM!** The fuel tank exploded, killing several. More bullets pinged off the suit, some actually penetrating. Blake decided it would be best to hurry, and double timed it for the door. He made it through and locked it behind him. For grins he shot the control panel so no one else could use it.

"That went better than I expected…" he muttered. He quickly tore off the suit and took stock of his body. Nothing had gone past the suit, good. He found that he still had six hundred rounds for the PKP as well. It was time to find Katt…

(…)

Katt was jolted out of her moping by loud alarms. She heard boots clomping down the hall towards her cell. She sat on the edge of her bed and watched. Yamanaitsu and two men with assault rifles appeared at the cell door and deactivated the force field. The two henchmen quickly grabbed Katt and yanked her up.

"What's going on?" she asked. Yamanaitsu glared at her.

"Come with me." He growled. The two men dragged her down the hall and to what appeared to be a phone booth, but without the phone. They stepped inside, and Yamanaitsu pressed a button. The small space seemed to buzz. Katt's eyes darted back and forth, scarred as to what would happen next. Suddenly, the world seemed to spin. She felt as if she was being pulled through a garden hose. Within the next second, she found herself in an ornate study with a massive window.

She was astounded, to say the least. Not even the Cornerians had invented a teleporter yet!

(…)

"All ships, commence opening bombardment!" Fox ordered to the small group of bombers under his command. The bombers broke formation and headed to various points along the hull of the _Great Dragon_. First, they destroyed the main cannons, and then went after the engines. One of the bombers scored a direct hit, leaving the _Great Dragon_ dead in space. It began to launch its own fighters.

"All fighters engage!" he commanded. The fighters, Star Fox included, attacked mercilessly. The pirates were no match for the CDF's superior training and tactics. They were wiped out within minutes. Fox smirked as the Cornerians began to board the ship, by both hangar and boarding craft…

(…)

Blake jogged down the corridor, hearing the sounds of battle not too far away. He had to find Katt, and get the hell out of here!

"What's this?" he wondered aloud, coming upon a small room that looked like a phone booth, but without the phone. He walked inside and found a panel of buttons. He scanned the buttons before pressing "brig". Suddenly, the room seemed to buzz. Blake felt as if he were spinning and being pulled through a garden hose at the same time. Finally, the room stopped spinning, and he was in a bright, long corridor lined with cells.

"A teleporter, of course…" he muttered. He'd heard somewhere that Class X ships would debut a new technology. There was no way in _hell_ that the crew was going to walk eight miles to get from one point of the ship to the other.

Blake slowly walked down the corridor, scanning every inch with the PKP for hostiles. He checked every cell for Katt, but came up empty handed. But, the last cell looked like it had been used recently. He walked inside and looked around. It was barren save for a small cot. Blake checked the cot and picked up a single pink hair.

'_Katt!'_

(…)

Yamanaitsu snapped his fingers. The two men dragged her over to a chair across from his desk. He pressed a button, causing a holographic display of the security feeds to spring to life. Katt watched with a curious expression as a drop ship zoomed into the hangar. It skidded along the deck with a man firing out of the rear hatch. When it stopped, a heavily armored human jumped out and began to slowly lumber forward, tearing through the pirates' ranks.

"Blake…" she muttered, half with shock, half with joy.

'_He came back! He came back for me!' _She thought. Yamanaitsu cleared his throat, gaining her attention.

"It seems that O'Brien made it in one piece. Tell me, how did he know where we were holding you?" he asked, looking Katt dead in the eye.

"I don't know." Katt replied with a hint of terror evident in her voice. Not the cattle prod, not again! Unfortunately for her, Yamanaitsu reached under his desk and produced the very object of her fears. He made a show of walking leisurely around the desk. He drew nearer and nearer, brandishing the prod menacingly. Katt felt fear consuming her as she watched the harmless looking metal bit edging closer…

Closer…

Closer…

_**KABOOM!**_ The heavy oak doors to the office blew clean off their hinges. The two guards whirled around to face the new comer, but were cut down with two quick bursts from a machine gun. Yamanaitsu's eyes widened and he dove behind his desk. He popped back up with a small handgun. Suddenly, a blur rushed past Katt from behind, eliciting a yelp of surprise from her. The human, that's what Katt could establish about him, dove, head first over the desk and tackle Yamanaitsu to the floor before the elder man could get a shot off. He grabbed the wrist that held the gun and bashed it into the floor a couple times, causing Yamanaitsu to drop it.

"Blake!" Katt yelled in surprise. Blake didn't have time to respond, as he was too busy beating the living day lights out of Yamanaitsu.

"You filthy shit! I should kill you right now!" he snarled, standing up and picking up the pistol. Yamanaitsu froze on the floor, unable to move whilst in the sights of the weapon. He glared up at Blake.

"Foolish boy, you couldn't pull that trigger. Not when there's so much you could learn from me." He snarled. Blake growled in his throat and tightened his grip on the gun.

"True. Now tell me, since when have you been supplying Cornerians with guns, huh?"

"I will not tell you."

**BLAM!** Blake fired once. Yamanaitsu screamed in agony, clutching his knee.

"ARGH, YOU SHOT ME!" he yelled. Blake didn't even flinch at the sight.

"Tell me, or the other knee goes."

"Alright! We've been supplying Mr. O'Donnell with weapons for a long time now! In exchange, they give us some of their more advanced technology." Yamanaitsu grunted. Katt stood up from her chair and walked next to Blake, cattle prod in hand. Yamanaitsu's eyes widened.

"Hello!" Said Katt gleefully. She nudged his wound with the prod, eliciting another scream from him as he jerked around. Blake looked at her and raised an eyebrow.

"Cruel much?"

"Shut up. This bastard is lucky I haven't just up and killed him already after the hell he's put me through."

"Have fun."

"Oh I will…" Katt whispered, a maniacal grin on her face.

"NO DON'T!" Yamanaitsu screamed.

_**ZAP! **_Katt had prodded him in the place where no man should ever be prodded.

"AAAAARGH!"

"HOW DOES IT FEEL, HUH? YOU SLIMY BASTARD!" Katt shouted in rage. She raised the prod once more, but Blake grabbed it. She shot him a glare. "What?"

"We should go. From the looks of it, the CDF are getting closer." Blake warned. Katt checked the security feeds. Sure enough, CDF ground troops were pushing their way to the bridge. Katt sighed.

"Fine, but before we go, could I see that gun for a sec?" asked Katt. Blake nodded and handed her the firearm. "Thanks hon."

**BLAM!** Yamanaitsu died without a sound. Blake raised an eyebrow.

"_Hon_? What happened to _bastard_, or _dumbass_?" Blake asked, genuinely surprised that Katt had called him something nice for a change. Katt smirked at him as they turned to leave.

"Well you did save me, so I guess I owe you it. Actually, I owe you a lot more, but it'll have to do for now." Katt said. "So where do we go from here?"

Blake had a smirk of his own. "We can't go back to the drop ship. However, when I was looking for you, I teleported into a private hangar where Yamanaitsu's private yacht is docked…"

(…)

"Your plan is crazy." Wolf said with a sigh. The same man from his office growled, his robotic limbs tensing with anticipation. Wolf could hear the click of a safety, and the whine of a charging blaster.

"But it's necessary…" he finally replied.

"All this, over a woman?" Wolf asked. In a flash, he was pinned to the wall by strong, metallic hands at his throat.

"My Annette was more than just a _woman_. She was everything to me. And because of that fucking mick bastard, she's gone. Just like _that_. O'Brien will suffer, just like she did…"

(…)

Blake motioned Katt to the teleporter. Once inside, he pressed the button labeled "hangar F". They went through the mighty uncomfortable teleportation process, and found themselves in a small space dominated by a massive 100 foot long yacht. At the press of a button, it would drop downwards and out the belly of the _Great Dragon_.

"Stay silent." Blake whispered, as guards patrolled constantly. Katt nodded and followed his lead. They silently and quickly skirted up the gang plank and into the bridge of the yacht.

"Hurry it up!" Katt muttered. Blake nodded and the ship roared to life. Outside, the guards began to notice. Bullets began to ping of the view port. Katt stood by the gang plank with the shotgun.

**BOOM!** One of the pirates fell dead.

"Come on, Blake, we don't have all day." She growled, ducking in as bullets hit the hull. Blake nodded and pressed the disengage. The doors shut, and the yacht dropped down into space. Blake pushed the throttle to full and zoomed away from the ship, which was being attacked on all fronts. Somehow they made it away without being seen. Katt sighed and slumped down into a chair, laughing.

"We did it! Smooth sailing from here on out!" she exclaimed. Blake smirked, but not before a blaster barrel was pressed against the back of his head.

"Nice to see you again, _Captain_."

"T-Taylor?"

**AN: Cliffy, yay! Read and review.**


	14. Repercussions

**AN: Hey guys, thanks for the reviews. Sorry that that last chapter sucked so bad, but I just wasn't in the "zone" and I didn't want to keep you guys waiting. But oh well, you can't win them all! This next chapter may be a little short, but it's essential to the plot.**

The air was tense, more tense than usual anyways. The meeting room at the UN in New York was eerily silent, save for the occasional sounds of papers rustling. An emergency meeting had been called on short notice, which meant something _big_ was happening. Jackson McDougal, the American representative, was the first to speak.

"Gentlemen," he said, pulling out a small remote. "Two days ago, a UN frigate by the name of _Armageddon _was attacked and destroyed by insurgents and an alien race known as the _Cornerians_." This was soon followed by a low buzz of representatives murmuring in either confusion or fear. Fear of war, to be exact.

"Mr. McDougal," Tamir Yusef of Pakistan challenged. "Can you really be so sure that it was the Cornerians? After all, they are supposed to have no knowledge of our existence."

"I understand, Mr. Yusef," Jack responded. "That's why I have this." Jackson pressed a button of the remote, and a holographic image appeared on the projector in the center of the room. It showed a recording, obviously from a long range drone, of the _Armageddon_ being attacked by both human and Cornerian ships. A small amount of UN fighters intervened, but were subsequently vanquished by the superior force. A small number of gasps were audible. They watched, however, as multiple life boats began to disengage from the ship.

"But why? Why would the Cornerians do such a thing? They were in UN controlled space!" James King, of the United Kingdom, asked in surprise. Jack cleared his throat and pressed another button. The gruesome image of the doomed _Armageddon_ disappeared, and was replaced with two images of both a man and a woman. The man was a human, and had a standard buzz cut, green eyes, tan skin, and muscular build. It could easily be assumed that he was a soldier of some sort. He looked back at them with unmoving, disciplined features. But the woman, she was different. She was a cat, obviously Cornerian, with pink fur, green eyes, and a cocky smirk. She was dressed in regular civilian clothes, yet every man who knew about the Cornerians knew that she could easily kill them all. She was Katt Monroe, ace aviator and mercenary.

"This is Captain Blake O'Brien, last of Alpha Patrol, who were assumed KIA two months ago. It appears that he was taken prisoner to the Cornerians, and escaped with a hostage, Katt Monroe." Jack explained, gesturing to the woman. "It appears that Ms. Monroe has been charged with helping O'Brien escape. From what the reports say, they were pursued endlessly by both the Cornerians and Insurgents since they left Corneria. When they reached New Britannia, the _Armageddon_ was assigned to transport the two back here to Earth. It is still unknown whether or not they made it off safely, but there is still that chance."

The room was once again filled with the small sounds of whispers, mutters, and pens jotting down notes on paper. The noise filed down, and everyone remained silent. Everyone here was scared, that was for certain. After the last great war of 2028 that had nearly wiped out the human race, no one wanted any sort of conflict, especially with an alien race that had far more advanced technology. A few people shifted in their seats. Finally Ryuu Musaki of Japan was the first to break the silence.

"Then what do you suggest we do, Jack? After all, you seem to already have a plan." He said, a hint of venom just barely visible in his tone. Jack's eyes narrowed. He and Ryuu had never seen eye to eye.

"Well, Ryuu, I suggest we contact the Cornerian High Command, and request that they cease their pursuit."

"And if they don't?"

"We bring the axe right down on them." Jack said with finality. Everyone gasped. Jack took a deep breath before dialing a number on his console. The image of Katt and Blake disappeared. They waited anxiously for someone on the other end to answer. Finally, they did, and everyone stared at them with awe. An anthropomorphic Persian cat sat in the center. To his right was a hound in an old fashion General's dress, and to his left was a small frog, with eyes that seemed to study everything it gaze upon. He was dressed in a regular suit. They were staring at General Pepper, the Commander in Chief of the Cornerian Defense Force, Stan Connors, the Cornerian Prime Minister, and Beltino Toad, a top researcher in the science department. These three men made up The Counsel, a group of top Cornerian leaders chosen to deal with matters between galaxies. They wore emotionless faces, as if pitying the group of humans before them. Jack stood in front of them with his hands behind his back. That was one of his qualities that the other representatives liked: He could appear to be made of steel when he was truly scared shitless.

"Who is this?" Connors asked. "And how did you get this number?"

"We have our sources, Mr. Connors," said Jack. "We are the United Nations of Earth, representatives of the human race."

"We know what you are, but why have you contacted us? We assume it has something to do with O'Brien?" Connors asked, glaring holes through Jackson. Jackson didn't show any emotion.

"Yes. We the people of the human race would ask that you please desist in your pursuit. And seeing as you just destroyed one of our vessels and killed several hundred good men and women, you should consider yourselves lucky that we didn't just outright declare war!" Jackson said icily. The other representatives watched as the Cornerian Prime Minister recoiled. He regained his composure and glared back.

"I say it was a fair trade, seeing as just a single ten man squad defeated several _thousand_ good men and women, plus another ten or so on the ground. So, we will stop chasing _O'Brien_, but we will not stop chasing Ms. Monroe, seeing as she is one of ours. Mark my words, human, if we hear anymore reports of you assisting Katt Monroe, you will pay dearly…" Connors said darkly before hanging up. Silence soon followed as representatives began to file out and head home to their respective countries. It seems they were off the hook…

…For now at least…

**Read and Review!**


	15. Revenge

**AN: Alright, this chapter will be A LOT longer than the last, you have my word.**

"T-Taylor?" Blake whispered in surprise, putting his hands up. Taylor pressed the barrel of the blaster harder into the back of his skull. Questions were running through his mind. Why was his best friend trying to kill him?

"The one and only…" Taylor growled. Blake was suddenly shoved forward. He tumbled straight into the control panel, slamming head first and leaving a sizeable dent. He was temporarily stunned, and muttered silent curses under his breath. He rolled over onto his back to face his friend and former squad mate, but he was not prepared for what waited for him.

Blake barely recognized the man before him. His whole body, save for his head, seemed to be robotic. Even Taylor's eyes were robotized. Two red slits glaring murderously back at him. Taylor growled.

"Surprised?" Taylor asked, still aiming the gun at him. A bead of sweat glistened on Blake's temple. He gaped at the elaborate machinery that kept Taylor alive.

"What… what happened to you?" he asked, still stunned by his old friend's sudden reappearance. Taylor growled, his grip on the blaster tightening. Sadly, Katt couldn't do anything but watch, as she'd set down the shotgun too far out of reach to grab it in time. She herself was just as shocked to find out how Taylor survived.

"Well, where do we begin?" Taylor cackled evilly. "How about we begin with your pathetic show of heroism?"

"When I used myself as a distraction?"

"When you ordered us to our deaths!" Taylor snapped, causing Blake to jump. "BECAUSE OF YOU, MY ANNETTE IS DEAD! YOU HEAR ME? DEAD!"

"Taylor, I didn't know-"

"BULLSHIT, O'BRIEN, ALL BULLSHIT! YOU KNEW PERFECTLY WELL THAT THEY WERE OUT THERE WAITING FOR US!" Taylor roared. "Oh, what a shock it was when I was rescued by pirates in my destroyed ship, and they told me about how you and the Cornerians had a little deal going. I vowed to find you, and avenge my little Annette."

Blake remained silent below the barrel of the blaster. There was no point in trying to convince Taylor otherwise, as he was too crazed by revenge to _think_ otherwise. But, if he didn't do something soon, he would surely be killed. Blake shot a quick glance to Katt. She looked at him through fearful eyes, but nodded. Good, she got the message. Hopefully, she could do it before Taylor would shoot…

(…)

Katt kept her eyes glued on Taylor while her right hand slowly edged towards the shotgun. Fear gripped her as she watched Taylor wave the gun around. She wouldn't lose Blake, _couldn't_ lose him. She'd be alone, so terribly alone without him there to help her. Her own people were against her, her friends were against her, and the human race was probably against her. Blake was all she had.

Taylor began to cackle maniacally. He trained the blaster on Blake's forehead. "And here lies the infamous Blake O'Brien, dead at my feet like an animal for the slaughter!"

Katt's fingertips grazed the smooth metal of the barrel. Katt's heart was caught in her throat…

"…" Blake remained silent, much to Taylor's displeasure. He had envisioned Blake to die begging for his life. But to his surprise, Blake seemed to be waiting for the end. Taylor snarled and bashed him across the face with the blaster.

"SAY SOMETHING DAMN IT!" Taylor yelled into his face. Blake still didn't respond despite the blood trickling down his forehead…

Katt's hand slowly traveled down the barrel to the grip…

"ARGH, NEVERMIND! Goodbye, Blake…" Taylor growled. He raised the blaster and slowly squeezed the trigger.

_**BLAM!**_

"AAH!" Blake screamed, slumping to the floor…

(…)

Katt steadied her breathing and lowered the shotgun, which was till smoking. At this range, the buckshot wouldn't have been able to penetrate the high strength alloy of Taylor's artificial body. Instead, they had knocked him back. The bb's made contact at the same time that he had fired, successfully knocking his aim off. The blaster had only succeeded in hitting Blake in the shoulder…

(…)

Excruciating pain filled his right shoulder. Blake's eyes were clinched shut, and he grunted out swear word after swear word. He could hear a dull thump, and the sound of a blaster going off. It was Katt's desperate pleas for help that snapped him out of his dreary.

"Blake, help!" Katt screamed from far off. Blake's vision suddenly cleared. He found himself on the floor in a small pool of blood. In front of him was Taylor, firing wildly at a control console where Katt was taking cover. In a sudden burst of energy, Blake reached forward and grabbed Taylor's ankle. He gave it a sharp tug, sending the cyborg to the floor. Blake hopped on top of him and began to slug him repeatedly in the face. The blaster clattered to the floor, but Taylor wasn't finished. He planted his feet on Blake's chest and pushed him off. Blake tumbled in the air and landed face first on the deck, sending pain jolting up through his injured arm. He shakily picked himself up, but not before a strong metallic hand grabbed the front of his shirt and picked him up like a ragdoll. He looked straight ahead into Taylor's red glowing eyes. Taylor brought his other hand back for a punch. Suddenly, a pink blur jumped onto Taylor's back.

"UGH!" Taylor choked. Katt growled and tightened her chokehold. Taylor momentarily forgot about Blake and dropped him to the floor. He swung Katt around all over the place, but she wouldn't let go. Finally, he managed to throw her over him and onto the deck. She groaned, temporarily stunned. Taylor grinned and descended on her. Blake searched frantically for a way to stop him, and found it.

_** BLAM!**_ It took some effort due to his arm, but he'd manage to raise the shotgun and fire. The recoil, coupled by his weak arm, had knocked him back a few feet. But the result was solid, and Taylor flew back into the bulkhead. But what Blake didn't realize was that he had hit Taylor in the face, and became sick to his stomach when he saw the aftermath.

"Mother of God!" Katt spat, gaping at Taylor. The cyborg stood back up. Beneath the face was a metallic skull, with a thin layer of flesh surrounding it. Most of Taylor's face was hanging on by a thin sliver of skin. There was blood everywhere. But they did not distract from the eerie metallic skull.

"What are you looking at?" Taylor cackled and stood back up. He reached up and tore of what was left of his face, tossing it to the floor. Katt looked like she was about to be sick. Blake took aim and fired once more, but the rounds simply bounced off. "Please, my body is made of Titanium- A alloy, you're little pea shooter won't hurt me!" he cackled. Katt jumped up and ran to Blake's side, ready for a fight.

"How're we going to do this?" Katt whispered as Taylor drew nearer. "He's indestructible!"

"No, he's not." Said Blake. "The pirates had to make him have at least one weakness, so that they could neutralize him if need be."

"Then what do we do?" Katt asked fearfully. They were now backing away from Taylor.

"Run." Blake whispered.

"What?"

"RUN!" Blake shouted and grabbed Katt's arm. He took off through the nearest door and began running through the corridors of the yacht.

"You can run, but you can't hide, Blake!" Taylor cackled somewhere behind them. Katt let out a whimper, making Blake go faster. On the wall, he saw a sign that read "Emergency Airlock" and got an idea.

"This way, quickly!" he hissed to Katt, dragging her around the corner. There was the airlock at the far end of the hall. Luckily, there were many doors. Blake chose one next to the airlock and pulled Katt inside. He left the door open a crack and remained silent.

_**CLINK…! CLINK…! CLINK…!**_ The metallic footfalls cut through the silence. They sounded like they were at the far end of the hall.

"O'Brien, where are you? AHAHAHA!" Taylor called like a child playing hide and seek. Both Blake and Katt's heart were beating in their throats. Blake fell Katt's hand squeeze the life out of his arm. They locked gazes in the dim lighting. Blake raised his shotgun and nodded. Katt did the same. The message was clear: Kill him together, or die together. Blake's mind was filled with thoughts. He was torn straight down the middle. He didn't want to kill his best friend, but he also knew that he would have to if it meant him and Katt's survival. He couldn't help but grin. He and Taylor had always joked about who was saving seats for who in Hell. Now, it appears they were finally going to find out…

"And behind door number one!" Taylor boomed. There was a loud crash of a door being knocked clean off its hinges…

_**CLINK…! CLINK…! CLINK…! CRASH!**_

"You're just making it harder on yourself, Blake!"

_**CLINK…! CLINK…! CLINK…! CRASH!**_

"Come out come out where ever you are!"

By now, Blake felt his legs trembling, but he forced himself to remain stoic. He kneeled in front of the door with his shotgun raised. Katt stood behind him.

_**CLINK…! CLINK…! CLINK…!**_

The heavy footfalls stopped right outside the room they were in.

"Peek-a-boo…" Taylor said in an eerie tone. Blake swallowed the lump in his throat.

…

…

…

_**CRASH!**_ The door flew open, and Blake was met with the gruesome deformed face of his former friend. Taylor held the blaster in his left hand, his skeleton face grinning eternally down at him. However, Taylor wasn't prepared for his prey to have a shotgun.

"I see you…" Blake finished for him.

_**BOOM!**_ The buckshot slammed into Taylor's chest, hurling the cyborg backwards and through the door on the other side of the hall. When he came back out, Katt ran forward and used Blake like a springboard, launching herself off his shoulders and diving straight for him. Taylor simply reached up and threw Katt behind him. Blake stood up and charged at him with a war cry. He swung the butt of the shotgun around and caught Taylor across the face. There was a clang, but Taylor seemed unfazed by the blow. He simply reached forward and jerked the shotgun out of Blake's grasp.

"AAAH!" Blake shouted as the very same shoulder that had been shot was dislocated from the force. Taylor looked emotionlessly down at him and easily tied the barrel of the shotgun into a bow with his great robotic strength. He then reached forward. Blake tried to scramble backwards, but couldn't move fast enough. Taylor grabbed him by the throat and raised him off the ground. Once again, Katt tried to put him in a choke hold from behind, but Taylor ignored it. He raised the blaster in the other hand and pressed it to Blake's chest.

"Goodbye, old friend." Taylor muttered.

_**ZAP! ZAP! ZAP!**_ Taylor shot three times; each of the blaster bolts scythed through Blake's chest and exited the other side. Blake tensed for a few seconds, and then his eyes slowly shut…

… And didn't reopen...

Taylor began to chuckle darkly. Katt watched from behind, too shocked for emotion.

"No…" She whimpered silently. A tear streamed down her cheek, then another. Pretty soon, she was openly sobbing. "No! No, no, no, no!" she cried. Taylor shrugged and flung Blake all the way down to the end of the hall. Katt watched with horror as he lay motionless on the floor, his body twisted at an awkward angle. Katt roared ferociously, a new found sense of fury inside her.

"You next, kitten." Taylor laughed, turning around to face her.

"ONLY BLAKE CAN CALL ME THAT, YOU FUCKING BASTARD!" She roared and lunged for him. She sent a roundhouse kick to his head, which he ducked. She jumped over his foot as he tried to sweep her feet out from underneath her. She slugged him in the face as hard as she could, but was rewarded with a spike of pain that shot through her wrist. She screamed and clutched her wrist. Taylor put a hand on her forehead and shoved her into the bulkhead. Katt looked up and saw him raise the blaster.

"Shame, I never did get your name…" he grinned. He slowly squeezed the trigger.

"RAAAAAAAAAGH!"

Taylor froze to the barbaric roar momentarily looking up from Katt and down the hall. Before he could do anything, Blake rammed straight into him, knocking him into the airlock. Blake crumpled to the floor, blood streaming from his chest like Niagara Falls and creating a messy trail behind him. Katt used the opportunity to jump up and run to the control panel. She glared at Taylor.

"See you in Hell, you monster!" she growled and pressed the button. The doors slammed shut, and Taylor tried desperately to bash them open, but they held. Then, the exterior doors blew open, shunting Taylor into the vacuum. He zoomed away from the ship, becoming a tiny dot within seconds. Katt watched with awe, but a small sigh brought her back to the present…

…Blake was dying…

"BLAKE!" she cried and rushed to his side. He was just barely conscious, and was losing blood like crazy. Katt looked into his eyes. His mouth was just barely moving. Katt bent down close and still was just barely able to hear him.

"Get me to… the medical wing…" Blake whispered hoarsely. Katt nodded and grabbed his arm. With great difficulty, and a strength she never had before, she hauled Blake over her shoulders like a deer. She grunted with effort and hauled him down the halls, his blood soaking her own clothes. She read the signs directing her towards the infirmary, trying to go as fast as she could before Blake… well, she didn't want to think about that. Finally, after what seemed like ages, she found the right door and kicked it open. Inside were a row of beds. Katt gingerly laid Blake out on one and ran for a large medical drawer. She flung it open and began ravaging the contents for the necessary supplies. Katt nearly screamed in delight when she found out that the ship was stocked with Cornerian medical supplies as well as human. She pulled out five tubes of Bio-Seal, a paste meant to reform damaged or missing tissue, a morphine injection, and a bottle of antiseptic. She rushed back over to Blake and checked his pulse. It was there, but very faint. She had no time to lose! She quickly dabbed antiseptic on his wounds, then jabbed him with a morphine injection. Blake tensed, and then went limp. Katt then popped open a tube of Bio-Seal and squeezed the contents into one of the messy blaster wounds. It began to bubble and foam, which meant it was working. She proceeded to do the same to the rest of the wounds before standing back and examining her work. Blake looked normal for the most part, save for the fact that there was blood everywhere. Katt looked hopefully at his eyes, waiting for them to open. But minute after minute, she became less hopeful. Finally, she had to accept the grim fact: Captain Blake O'Brien was dead.

At first, she didn't want to believe it. She'd gotten her hopes up, thinking that there was actually a way to save him, and she failed miserably. Katt pitched herself forward onto the bedside and cried until there were no more tears left to cry. She finally stood up angrily and glared at him.

"SO THAT'S IT, HUH? YOU'RE JUST GOING TO DIE AND LEAVE ME OUT HERE ALL ALONE ARE YOU?" she screamed at his body. She half expected him to respond, but she knew it was hopeless. She climbed on top on him and shook his shoulders. "YOU FUCKING SON OF A BITCH! YOU SURVIVED TWO CRASH LANDINGS, A SHIT TON OF BLASTER WOUNDS, AND WEEKS WITHOUT FOOD! DON'T YOU… DON'T YOU FUCKING DIE NOW-OW-OW!" she screamed while sobbing openly. She bawled and fell forward onto his chest, pounding into it with her fists. "WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY DID YOU HAVE TO DO THIS TO ME?"

There was silence, then a low buzz. At first Katt didn't know what it was, but then it came again:

"Mm… Katt… stop screaming mm… I feel like I just went through… a meat grinder…"

**AN: Read and review!**


	16. Just a crush

**Alright, the next few chapters are going to be kinda fluffy. You were warned. Besides, I think the "romance" category was a big indicator in itself.**

Blake's eyes fluttered open. He was aware of nothing but pain, terrible pain! But wait, there was something else. He felt a weight on top of him, combined with something hitting his chest again and again. There was the sound of muffled shouting. Then the fog cleared, and his vision and hearing returned. Lying on top of him was Katt, who appeared to be the source of the noise. She was slamming her fists into the center of his chest where the blaster bolts had struck. He was lucky that they had just barely missed his heart. He focused on the words coming out of Katt's mouth.

"… WHY DID YOU HAVE TO DO THIS TO ME?" she screamed in disbelief. It was apparent that she was crying, for Blake felt wet tears staining his bloody and torn flight suit. He felt a lump in his throat. He had the strongest urge to pull her into a bear hug and comfort her, to tell her that he was alive and breathing, but he couldn't. He couldn't move, and to top it off, his own pride wouldn't let him. He refocused his attention to the despairing feline that was pummeling his chest with an endless bombardment of fists. He tried his hardest, and only managed to squeeze out:

"Mm… Katt… Stop screaming mm… I feel like I just went through… A meat grinder…"

"There was all that time! I could've told you! I could've told you!" Katt cried out, ignoring him. Blake tried again, a little louder. Katt froze, and then slowly shifted her gaze down to him. Her eyes were the size of dinner plates. They sat in silence for what seemed like eternity, just trying to confirm what they were seeing. Finally, Katt broke the silence. She squealed in delight and pulled Blake into a bone crushing hug, purring like mad.

"Katt, I- MMM!" Blake started to speak, but was cut off as Katt roughly mashed her lips to his in a passionate kiss. Blake's eyes went wide, but then he slowly relaxed into it. They each remained in their own state of bliss for the next five minutes before finally pulling away for air. Katt laid her head on his shoulder.

"You bastard… don't you _ever_ do that again…" she whispered menacingly. Blake stared up at the ceiling, too shocked for words.

"Do what…?"

"Scare me like that. Do you know how hard it was for me to watch you die?" Katt asked, her eyes moistening again. Blake shushed her and put a hand behind her head.

"It's alright, I'm here. That's all that matters." Blake whispered.

Katt sniffed. "I thought you were going to leave me by myself."

"I wouldn't do that to you."

"I hope not…" Katt whispered and fell asleep in his arms. Blake sighed and did the same. He was too tired to do anything more…

(…)

… Hours later, Katt's eyes fluttered open. She lay silently, starring out the viewport at the stars, replaying the events of the past few months in her head. And now that she thought of it, she was actually kind of _glad_ that Blake had taken her. She looked down at his sleeping face. He looked so… _peaceful_, so calm, as if none of the past events had happened. Katt leaned down to him and kissed his forehead. He intrigued her, Blake did. She knew everything about him, while at the same time, knew nothing at all.

"Who are you, Blake O'Brien?" she asked softly. Naturally, Blake didn't respond, and just kept dreaming. Katt wished she could see into him, and find out what he was dreaming about, but she couldn't. With a sigh, she rolled out of the small medical bed without a sound. She needed food, as the events of the past day had worn her out. She walked down the brightly lit corridors. It was an eerie feeling, being alone here in the silence. It was the same feeling she'd felt when she was prisoner aboard the _Great Dragon_. Maybe, it was because she had spent so much time in the presence of another, and had become dependent on it. Maybe…

… Blake awoke to a scream of terror coming from somewhere onboard the ship.

"EEEEEEEEEIK!" it came again. It was Katt! With his strength replenished, Blake picked up the shotgun by the door and pumped a shell into the chamber. His boots clomped on the hard metal as he sprinted to where to noise had come from, ready to kill. He rounded a corner and turned into the kitchen. Once inside, he sound Katt backed into a corner with a heavy butcher knife clutched in her paw. She had a petrified look on her face, as if she'd seen a ghost! Blake stood in front of her and swept the room for hostiles, but found none.

"Where are they, Katt? How many?" he asked, still sweeping the room with the shotgun. Katt whimpered.

"He's… he's b-back!" she stuttered frightfully. Blake stiffened. It couldn't be!

"Taylor?" he asked. Katt shakily nodded her head. Blake growled. How could Taylor have come back? They'd blown him out of the airlock! "Where?"

"Around the corner!" Katt whimpered. Blake nodded and picked up a flashlight. He flicked it on and slowly turned the corner into a darker area of the kitchen. That's when he saw it.

Peering at him in the darkness were two eerie, red eyes. They glared murderously at him, ready to strike. Blake could hear the robotic limbs tensing with anticipation. Blake shined the flashlight on him…

…Or _it_…

When Blake saw it, he remained silent. He spent a few moments starring in shock…

…Right before bursting out with laughter…

It was a simple cleaning bot! Katt peered around the corner with a confused expression. Blake laughed so hard he dropped the shotgun and fell to the floor. He rolled around, clutching his sides. When Katt realized her mistake, her cheeks turned beet red and she crossed her arms.

"IT'S NOT FUNNY!" she shouted at Blake, kicking him. Blake stood up and continued laughing.

"NO, IT'S HILARIOUS! THE FAMOUS KATT MONROE GOT SCARED OVER A LITTLE CLEANING BOT!" Blake panted between fits of laughter.

"SHUT UP!" Katt shouted at him. "I COULD'VE DIED!"

Blake stood up and grabbed the cleaning bot's vacuum cleaner attachment. He waved it at Katt like a sword. "Look out! It's a fuckin' vacuum cleaner!" he laughed. Katt growled and swatted it out of his hand. She walked away to the massive view screen and stared out at the stars passing. Blake sighed and wiped some excess tears from his eyes before walking up behind her. He stood next to her and watched in silence. After a few minutes, Katt spoke up.

"Do you remember that day a few months ago? When your team made first contact with our race?"

Blake chuckled. "How could I forget?"

"I remember it like it was only yesterday," Katt muttered. "When I first saw you, I thought you were a monster. A heartless killer who was going to destroy us all. I remember trying so desperately to kill you, to keep my kind safe from you…"

"You almost succeeded." Blake added. Katt nodded.

"And then I remember when they brought you in. I was surprised, to say the least, when I found out that they didn't kill you on the spot, and instead treated you. To tell the truth, I _hated_ you at that point. I spent every waking moment wishing that you would just drop dead. But then, that's when the quacks took possession of you. I watched, day after day, as you were treated like an animal in the zoo." She said, turning to face Blake. Blake did the same and looked down into her eyes. Green, just like his own. "That's when the guilt came. In my mind, it would've been better to just die than be a lab rat."

"Why would you feel guilty?" Blake asked. Katt looked away.

"Out of the other nine people in your squad, I shot down five." She admitted. "I'm the one who caused all of this! I'm the reason that five innocent people are never going to see their families again!" she said, her voice becoming shaky. But, she shook her head and continued on. "Then came the physical experimentation! Oh God, how horrible! I couldn't stand it! I tried to convince the doctors to stop, but they wouldn't listen!"

Blake placed his hands on her sides. "Katt, what are you trying to tell me?"

Katt sighed. "Alright, I'll fast forward. All this time I've been with you, it's made me see the real you, not just what was behind that pilot's helmet." She said. "And watching you almost die made me realize that I… I…"

"You what?" Blake asked curiously. Katt shook her head and turned away from him in embarrassment.

"I don't know, Blake. I'm just so confused! It could just be a dumb crush, hell, it could be love! But, I know that I have something for you, that's for certain. I just don't know what!" she said finally and walked out of the room, leaving Blake alone to himself.

"If only you knew, Katt…" Blake whispered sadly, still starring at the door.

** Yeah, it's short, but in my mind it was just written out so perfectly that I couldn't add anything on after that. Read and review!**


	17. A message to the readers

**AN: Hey guys, Hookem here with a special announcement.**

…

…

…

**I'm giving up this story.**

**NO, I'm not permanently leaving it. All I'm saying is that it may be months until I actually continue working on it.**

**My reason for this is that I'm lost on this. Hell, I've written, checked, and deleted over 20 drafts of chapter 17, and nothing seems to fit! I just can't see a way to write this damned thing without half-assing it, something I know you all wouldn't like.**

**So this is Hookemhorns12 telling you that this story is DISCONTINUED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE!**

**Again, know that I AM NOT permanently giving up on it, let's just say I'm on HAITUS.**

**Thank you all for reviewing, it meant a lot to me knowing that people actually cared about and praised my creations. **

**See you all in a few months, or maybe even longer. I'll still be working on my other stories, and even introducing a few that have been biting me in the ass for a long time.**

**Sincerely,**

**Hookemhorns12**


	18. Tensions rise

**AN: Hookem here! I'm back in action! I hope you guys are still interested in this story, because I have a whole butt-load of chapters in my head as we type. On with the story…**

Blake's eyes fluttered open in the dim lighting to the light ticking off the clock. Odd, he could've sworn he'd heard something somewhere in the ship, but what? He listened attentively…

There! It came again! It was a strange sound, almost pitiful. That's when Blake understood. It was a whimper.

Blake rolled out of bed, dressed in nothing but a tee shirt and boxer shorts, his curiosity sparked. He silently opened the door and peered out into the corridor. All was quiet, and there was not a soul in sight. But then, it came again, from farther down the hall. Blake was suddenly on edge, ready to fight at any moment. He crept down the hall towards the source of the noise, which turned out to be coming from behind Katt's bedroom door. That's when he saw it. It was a note, taped to the door. He plucked it off the wall. Instantly he saw that it was dotted with tear drops. It read:

_Blake,_

_By the time you find this letter, I'll already be gone. I'm sorry, but I just can't take this anymore! All the running, stress, guilt! It's all just too much!_

_So before I do it, I just wanted to say…_

… _I love you…_

_Love,_

_Katt_

As soon as he read the letter, his eyes widened in shock.

"KATT! DON'T DO IT!" he shouted and _kicked_ _down_ her door. There she was, sitting on the edge of her bead, the blaster to her temple. She looked up at him with saddened, tired eyes. They were red, and the fur beneath them was matted down from tears.

"I'm s-sorry, Blake!" She wailed and squeezed the trigger. The blaster went off, and she was no more…

Blake was stunned, too shocked for words. With a heavy heart, he trudged over to her and laid her head in his lap, shutting her eyes with his fingers. He cradled her, tears blurring his vision.

"No…" he whispered, choking on sobs. "Why'd you do it? Why?" he cried out. Her corpse naturally didn't respond. "I… loved you too…"

(…)

"NOOOOO!" Blake shouted at the top of his lungs, flinging himself up into a sitting position. Wait, what was this? He was back in his bedroom, as if nothing had happened. The dim lighting gave the room a soothing ambience, though it could do nothing to soothe the petrified human, who glanced around fearfully, a cold sweat adorning his brow.

"KATT?" he called in panic. Suddenly, he felt a hand on his chest. It firmly, but with the gentleness of a mother, pushed him back down.

"Shh… Calm down, it was only a dream…" Katt whispered from a chair at his bedside. Blake gasped lightly and starred at her with immense relief, his breathing steadily returning to normal.

"A… dream…?" he asked in disbelief. The feline nodded.

"Yes. I heard you thrashing in your sleep, so I came in here. I heard you yell '_Katt, don't do it!'_ and all sorts of stuff. I even heard you say, well, that…" Katt paused, her cheeks going slightly red. "… You loved me…"

"Oh…" Blake muttered in embarrassment and lied back. A few minutes of awkward silence followed, which was broken by Katt.

"So… do you want me to stay with you for the rest of the night, or should I leave?" she asked. Blake thought it over, though he already knew his answer.

"Could you…?" he began, but couldn't continue. Katt smiled weakly and shook her head. She didn't even have to hear the rest of that sentence. She shrugged off her robe, leaving her in silk pajamas, and slipped under the covers with him. She purred and cuddled against him, wrapping her rope-like tail around his waist. Her head rested on his chest, rising up and down with it.

There was no awkwardness involved. They both knew that they wanted this, and they both knew that they wanted each other. Another couple of action heroes, in need of a reprieve from it all.

"Blake…?"

"Yes, Katt…?"

"Do you really…?"

"Yes… you…?"

"I do…" Katt whispered with finality. The next couple minutes were a blur, but they were enjoyable, none the less. Blake lowered his head down to hers and kissed her softly. Katt placed a hand behind his head and pulled him closer.

They eventually had to pull away for air, but the two lovers both fell asleep peacefully, without nightmares, and were not disturbed again…

(…)

…Later that morning, Katt awoke in his embrace. She lay there in the dim lighting, thinking about what she'd said. She looked down at the sleeping human. Did she love him? Did she really? Did he really love her? Or was this just some spur of the moment thing that had slipped?

Now, when she looked down at him, she realized that she _did_ love him, and would be crushed if he were to leave. And that was all there was to it.

With a sigh, she cuddled against him and fell asleep once more…

(…)

Later on, at breakfast, the two remained in relative silence. After all, what was there to say? They'd already confessed their feelings to each other, and that was about all they _could_ say.

"Did you sleep well?" Blake asked, breaking the silence. Katt grinned.

"How couldn't I?" she asked in reply. Blake chuckled and shook his head. "How long 'til we reach Earth?"

"Judging by the star maps, I'd say… about five days." Blake guessed. Katt sighed.

"I can't wait for this all to be over. There's been too much blood shed over this…" she mumbled. Blake put an arm around her, and she laid her head on his shoulder. She looked up to him and kissed him. "What's about _us_?" she asked. "What are we going to do once we _do_ clear our names? We live light years away from each other. Where will we live? How will we cope?"

Black pressed a finger to her lips. "Knowing you, and knowing me, we'll manage. Everything's going to be fine. That Corneria place doesn't look all that bad, either…"

Katt looked up at him in surprise. "You mean… you'd leave behind your own kind… for me…?"

"Of course I would."

"Thank you, Blake." Katt whispered and kissed him again. This one lasted a couple minutes. The both of them fought fiercely for control over one another's tongue. They pulled away for air and savored the silence, enjoying each other's warmth…

(…)

"I do not want excuses." Prime Minister Connor snapped at the holographic humans. "Did you find them?"

"Mr. Connors, with all due respect, we currently do not know what ship they are in or if they're even alive." McDougal said. "We have almost every single long-range drone and patrol out searching for them. It should only be a matter of weeks."

"Get to it, _human_, or suffer the consequences…"

**AN: Short, but it's something to get you guys back in the spirit of humanXanthro adventures.**


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